China makes efforts to bridge digital divide, brings fruits of development to more

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

By Jin Xin, People's Daily

Therefore, it's essential to ensure that rural and remote communities, as well as elderly individuals and people with disabilities, can fully integrate into the digital society and bridge the digital divide.

In recent years, various regions across China have launched measures to enhance people's digital literacy and skills, improve digital accessibility, and provide inclusive public services. These efforts aim to promote the equal sharing of digital development benefits for all.

In a "smart living room" at a comprehensive senior service center in Xianxia Xincun neighborhood, Changning district, Shanghai, an instructor was demonstrating how to use smart appliances to elderly residents.

"Lights in the bedroom, living room, and bathroom are connected to motion sensors, so they automatically turn on when someone passes by," the instructor explained.

Enhancing digital literacy and skills among the elderly is a vital part of helping them embrace digital lifestyles and narrowing the digital gap.

The China Internet Development Foundation has launched programs such as "Silver Digital Literacy Program," aiming to improve digital literacy of the elderly in 100 communities.

The China Association for Science and Technology has also introduced a relevant program, which plans to establish "tech universities" and teams of volunteers to help seniors learn about digital technology, and host workshops, training sessions, and seminars.

The All-China Women's Federation has rolled out an action plan to help elderly women learn to use smart phones, smart appliances, and other digital products.

The elderly is not the only group that needs to be taken into consideration.

The vocational and technical training center for persons with disabilities of Jilin province has launched a drone operation training course.

"The instructors not only taught us how to fly drones but also gave us a detailed understanding of drone structure, flight principles, operational guidelines, and maintenance, laying a solid foundation for us to pursue relevant careers," said one who participated in the training course.

Working to improve digital skills of people with disabilities, the center is creating new job opportunities for them. It offers training courses focusing on new digital business forms such as livestreaming, short video production, commercial photography, and mobile phone repair.

In parallel with digital literacy and skills improvement, efforts are also made to make smart terminals more accessible for the elderly.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has facilitated the elderly friendly renovations of over 2,000 websites and apps often used by the elderly. Besides, China's Ministry of Transport has expanded the reach of "one-click" ride-hailing services and improved accessible transportation options for seniors.

In September 2023, some first-year university students in southwest China's Guizhou province joined a digital literacy course online. The course was originally designed for freshmen at East China Normal University in Shanghai, and was later extended to ten universities in Guizhou starting 2023, including Guizhou University of Commerce and Guizhou University of Finance and Economics. The course has been joined by over 38,000 students.

Since the launch of a "MOOC (massive open online courses) for Less-developed Western Region" initiative, universities in eastern China have provided 207,000 online courses to western institutions, gaining 590 million views so far.

Moreover, digital technology is advancing rapidly into rural areas. By the end of 2023, the internet penetration rate in rural China had reached 66.5 percent, underscoring the growing demand for digital literacy and skills in these communities.

In Golog Tibetan autonomous prefecture in northwest China's Qinghai province, villager Drolma attended a workshop on livestream e-commerce, hoping to expand the online sales channel for local farm produce and handicrafts.

This workshop was part of a "Women Up" economic support program for rural women, which combines online and offline entrepreneurial training, startup incubation support, and resource matching to improve digital literacy and skills for rural women in western provinces like Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Gansu.

Alongside e-commerce, rural communities are increasingly exposed to educational programs on smart device use, internet security, and data security.

With a growing abundance of digital resources, an improving digital environment, and continually rising levels of digital literacy, the light of a digital civilization is illuminating the lives of more people across China.