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About 700 seniors were commended for using information and communications technology (ICT) actively in their daily life at the presentation ceremony of the Smart Elderly Awards organised by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer today (April 12).
The Government commissioned the Hong Kong Society for the Aged to implement the first Smart Elderly Awards and co-ordinate elderly centres across the territory to nominate eligible seniors for the awards. The scheme was launched in December 2012, with 123 elderly centres lending support. Nearly 2 000 seniors have met pre-defined requirements within a specified period of time and were given gold, silver, bronze and diamond awards as recognition.
Six diamond awardees shared at the ceremony how the adoption of information technology helped them enhance their quality and enjoyment of life.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology), Miss Susie Ho, said, "Through the scheme, we aim at encouraging the elderly to apply information and communications technology in their daily life and strengthen their communication with the younger generation, thus facilitating inter-generational integration."
In view of the overwhelming response from the elderly, the Government will organise the second Smart Elderly Awards later this year. Miss Ho called for continual support from elderly centres. She also encouraged elderly people to take part actively in the scheme and lead a fruitful and fun-filled digital life.
The presentation ceremony is one of the events of International IT Fest 2013. The inaugural International IT Fest, featuring a series of events in a fortnight to showcase Hong Kong's information technology development and achievements, aims at reinforcing Hong Kong's position as an information, communications and technology hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
For more details of the Smart Elderly Awards, please visit the website www.e100.hk.
Ends/Friday, April 12, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:31
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