U Live Symposium ensures active agers are not left out of Singapore’s Smart Nation progress

Eighth edition of the Symposium sees 600 seniors pick up functional technological knowledge to improve their daily lives.

Singapore, 26 November 2017 – Active agers, who traditionally used their phones only for calls, learned how to book a taxi, pay for groceries and even complete a secure fund transfer from their smartphone at the tech-centric edition of U Live Symposium today. The eighth edition of the Symposium saw some 600 seniors taking a proactive step towards learning how technology can improve their lives, and ensuring that they are Smart Nation ready. 

Special Guest NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Mr Heng Chee How was present this afternoon and gave attending seniors a little pep talk to encourage them on their journey. 

Hands-on experience to reinforce learning

The full-day Symposium was packed with talks and classroom learning sessions for participants to familiarise themselves with technology. But the highlight was the Tech Learning Arena where participants learnt through hands-on experience. Strategic partner POSB shared with the participants the various secure digital banking methods as well as cashless payment methods such as DBS PayLah and PayNow. Other learning areas included Samsung, where participants were guided through basic smartphone functions such as browsing the internet, downloading apps, and making online transactions. For active agers keen on re-entering the workforce, NTUC Learning Hub conducted workshops to help in mindset changes to embrace a digital workplace.

“Being the People’s Bank, POSB has served generations of Singaporeans and – like many of our seniors today – we hold an important role in many of our nation building initiatives. The world is becoming more digital and we want to play our part to ensure that our seniors are not left behind. We are delighted to collaborate with partners like U Live as we continue to reach out to the community. As we move together towards Singapore’s vision of a Smart Nation, we are equipping our seniors with tools to help them gain more confidence and knowledge in adopting digital banking services,” said Ms Susan Cheong, Managing Director, Head, POSB.

Embracing technology

The Symposium this year was tailored to educate senior participants to the many uses of technology in their daily lives and to eliminate any fears that they may have. This was further done through experiential learning with additional peer-to-peer mentoring from some 60 U Live ambassadors. The mentoring system allowed seniors to approach technology at a comfortable pace, making it less intimidating. Participants could also download a mobile app to guide them around the Symposium, for optimum engagement. For many, it was the first time they had their portrait done by a robot artist, which utilises technology to transform a captured image into a real-time drawing. Participants were also able to catch a glimpse of how 3D printers work, and try their hand at bringing a 2D drawing to life using a 3D pen. 

“Our active agers have this yearning to want to be part of the digital era but many of them are apprehensive. That is why we’ve geared the Symposium this year to educate them on the many functional ways that they can use these apps and devices. I’m heartened that many of them are also enthusiastic about trying it out themselves. Hopefully in time, they’ll also encourage and help their peers to keep up with the Smart Nation progress,” said Mr Heng.

Aside from the Symposium, U Live conducts regular workshops to teach seniors basics like smartphones’ functionalities, and using of day-to-day mobile apps such as messaging, and maps for getting around. The community also works with partners to gear active agers up for productive re-employment or purposeful retirement.