The APEC Ageing-inclusive Digital Economy Workshop was held on October 20 in Beijing, which is one of the core activities of the APEC project "Ageing-inclusive digital economy: bridging the digital divide for the elderly by standards and conformity assessment". The project is led by CNIS and supported by many APEC economies.

With the highest density of ageing population around the world, Asia-Pacific is acknowledged of active digital economy as well. Given the enormous impact of COVID-19 pandemic, digital economy has become an inseparable part of daily life, including mobile diagnosis and treatment, online shopping, distance learning and working from home, said Fan Chunmei, senior inspector at International Cooperation Department of SAMR at the address.

Therefore, the ageing-inclusive digital economy tends to be a new common challenge for all APEC economies. Furthermore, standards and conformity assessment have become a significant tool to eliminate the digital divide for the elderly. For example, authorities can set out the requirements for enterprises to take the elderly's demand into consideration and develop more ageing-friendly services.

The virtual workshop attracted representatives from APEC economies including China, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Chili, etc. and representatives of international organizations like ISO/TC 314. Savants shared their impressive practices and opinions on mending the gap between ageing population and digital technology, which will promote innovation and cooperation among APEC economies.

Standards and conformity assessment are an essential method to foster ageing-friendly digital economy and to bridge the digital divide for the elderly. Since APEC economies are complementary technical companions for each other, the international cooperation in usage of standards and digital technology to benefit the elderly is on the horizon, said Wang Zongling, Secretary of the Party Committee of CNIS.