Helping the elderly become "digital citizens"

Helping the elderly become “digital citizens” requires determination, perseverance and maximum support. In the photo: Nam Sach District Police receive applications for electronic identification accounts for citizens.

Last weekend, I went back to my hometown and saw my parents rushing to the village cultural house to get their fingerprints taken, photos taken, and activate their electronic identification accounts. They said that the commune had already announced it, so they couldn't do it if they didn't, but even after doing it, they were still confused and didn't understand how to use it later. Seeing the elderly in their 70s, who weren't yet proficient in using smartphones, struggling with the features of the VNeID application, I was a bit worried. But I still encouraged them, "You'll get used to it gradually. When society becomes a digital society, it's normal for the elderly to become a successful population."

That said, I know that helping the elderly become “digital citizens” is not a simple matter. Recently, when I was doing the procedure of certifying some documents, I also approached the online application submission for the first time and the civil servant receiving the application had to be very enthusiastic in supporting and guiding me so that the implementation would be quick and smooth. While waiting for the results of the administrative procedure, I observed that most of the people who came to do the certification procedure like me had not proactively submitted their application online. Some people forgot their password for their electronic identification account. Some people used their relatives’ ID cards to go to work so they did not have an identification account pre-installed on their phones and could not receive the OTP code to log in. Some people had very old phones and blurry photos so they had to use the scanner of the “one-stop shop” department. Although detailed instructions for submitting documents online were posted on the office wall, most people still needed support to complete the procedure. It is worth mentioning that most of them are not old people over 70 years old like my parents. Some are only over 40 years old, a few are over 60 years old. Many people, when asked to submit documents online, showed impatience. They chose to go to notary offices or private notary offices to avoid having to do this. Some people complained, "If modern technology takes more time than the old way, wouldn't it be better to just do it the old way?"...

Changing the mindset and way of doing things of the majority of citizens, especially the elderly, in doing administrative procedures online, helping them become "digital citizens" requires determination, perseverance and maximum support from civil servants in "one-stop" departments. Nothing is easy, the important thing is that we identify and correctly perceive the meaning and importance of what we do.

For example, if you went to the market or supermarket without your wallet, you would have to go back. But now, it's different, just bring your phone and have money in your account, and everything has become much simpler. I was very surprised and happy because now even the women selling fruit and food in the market are willing to open their phones for customers to scan QR codes to pay for goods instead of having to count or run to change money. Recently, the Civil Aviation Authority announced that air passengers can use electronic identification accounts to check in for flights, once again affirming the convenience of issuing and using electronic identification accounts.

In the future, when the use of electronic data by citizens becomes more and more synchronized and online public services are expanded, I believe that few people will want to return to the scene of queuing to get a number to do administrative procedures at "one-stop" departments. And because of the conveniences of the digital transformation process, what needs to be done now is to persistently propagate, mobilize and help the elderly become "digital citizens".

HOAI ANH