Call for the Ageing-inclusive Digital Economy and Related Standards: Based on a Global Survey

ABSTRACT

The increasingly severe situation of ageing population has caused great pressure on the global wealth reserve, population security, economic construction, and social stability. Under this background, it is of great importance to realize the ideological, institutional, and economic changes from raising & nursing the elderly to actively ageing as soon as possible. The concept of active ageing was written in the Political Declaration and Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing of the UN at the beginning of this century, which is a global policy framework to deal with the problem of population ageing in the 21st century. Active ageing believes that the elderly have great potential and energy and are valuable social resources. By stimulating their potential, the elderly could not only realize their self-worth but also contribute to society, instead of blindly needing social care. Digital technology is an important technology to support active ageing. However, the digital divide in front of the elderly has greatly affected the role and effect of digital technology in an ageing society. The sudden COVID-19 also highlights the seriousness of the digital divide among the elderly and the importance of building an ageing-inclusive digital economy. Under this background, it is of great significance to carry out the related research and other actives of the ageing-inclusive digital economy, which will provide solutions for actively responding to the global challenge of ageing and help all parts of the world to effectively turn the ageing pressure into driving force of the economy. This paper introduces the global survey on ageing-inclusive digital economy and related standards conducted in early 2021, which aimed to clarify the influence and challenges of the digital economy on the elderly, and the expectations and demands of building an ageing-inclusive digital economy. The results from this survey show that the digital economy has a high impact on the elderly, but on the contrary, the participation of the elderly is low although there are strong will. © 2022 ACM.