“4G Friendly Application Forum” Opens a New Era for the Applications of the Seniors and Physically challenged. III Hands in with Start-up Teams to Demo 5 Senior & Barrier-Free Applications Made in Taiwan!
Date: 2016/01/28
To fulfill Executive Yuan's goals related to “The Project of Mobile Broadband Service Acceleration and Industry Development”, Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare collaborated beyond department borders for the first time to mutually promote 4G friendly application. In the picture, Executive Secretary of Board of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan, Chia-Te, Chung (left), Director General of Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs Ming-Ji, Wu (middle), and Director of Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare Hui-Jiuan, Chien (right) collectively participated in the opening ceremony.
With the support of Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, III held “4G Friendly Application Forum & Demo Show” on 28th January and launched 5 senior and disability friendly applications. The picture above was taken at the ceremony where Executive Secretary of Board of Science and Technology, Executive Yuan, Chia-Te, Chung(the 5th from the left), III Executive Vice President Gary Gong (the 4th from the left), Director General of Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs Ming-Ji, Wu (the 6th from the right), Director of Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare Hui-Jiuan, Chien (the 5th from the right), Secretary General of Mobile Manufacture’s Forum Michael Milligan (the 4th from the right), and Senior Manager of International Department, NTT Docomo Japan Hideki Soga (the 3rd from the right) were presented collectively.
You probably do not realize that there are more than 1 billion persons with mental and physical disabilities according to the reports of World Health Organization. In Taiwan, there are currently 1.15 million mentally and physically challenged people and 2 million seniors above the age of 65. As a matter of fact, with the dissemination of mobile devices, the demand for mobile communication among the seniors as well as the physically and mentally challenged persons increases gradually. Supported by Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, III Innovative DigiTech-Enabled Applications & Services Institute collaborated with lots of innovative teams such as the Center of Resources for the Visually Impaired at Tamkang University, Sabuz Tech Co., Moska Studio, Our City Love, and the team of rehabilitation game for dementia elders from NTUST. Developing from the perspective of user experiences, these teams launched 5 user friendly applications such as “4G Mobile Learning for Visually Impaired”, “Sign Language Auxiliaries for Hearing Impaired”, “Mobile Icons for Language Impaired”, “Taipei Friendly Drivers”, and “Dementia Rehabilitation for seniors”. Each is designed specifically for the targeted user group so that the seniors and the mentally and physically challenged can enjoy a more convenient and splendid mobile life.
To achieve the goals of “The Project of Mobile Broadband Service Acceleration and Industry Development” assigned by Executive Yuan, Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs collaborated with Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare promoting 4G friendly application. Director General of Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs Ming-Ji, Wu indicated that with the popularity of 4G, our citizens’ demand for the service increase accordingly. In recent years, the application services developed by innovative companies are well acclaimed, which is a solid prove that the application service industry in Taiwan is under rapid growth.
Taking the applications for the hearing impaired for example, Sabuz Tech Co. launched SignChat which is the first sign language input method in Taiwan. The application won the first place in 2014 Mobileheroes communication competition held by Committee of Communication Industry Development, Ministry of Economic Affairs. This year, by the resource support from “the Project of Senior Citizens and Disadvantaged Groups 4G Application Promotion Plan”, the application moved another step forward turning plain text into sign language animation. In the future, following the trend of information equilibrium promoted by Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), people in current societies are much more possible to enjoy the whole new service genre in industries such as TV, transportation, exhibition, logistics and retail business. For this reason, public welfare application eco-industrial chain can therefore be soundly established and root deeply at local areas so as to promote 4G charitable application software or equipment as well as to assist the realization and popularization of the 4G public welfare industry.
Director of Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare Hui-Jiuan, Chien specifically explained that 4G Community Care Pilot Project executed by Social and Family Affairs Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare was mapped out to integrate current day care center and community care locations so that all resources can be gathered to provide intense service capability. By increasing service management ability, the service for the seniors could be alleviated so that people in the community are willing to participate actively in community building.
III Executive Vice President Gary Gong expressed that III expects to use the power of friendly technology to assist disadvantaged groups narrow their information gap. The goal is to develop 4G seamless barrier free applications, establish care for humanity, and increase the welfare of the senior citizens as well as the disadvantaged. By collaborating with domestic firms, III developed 5 friendly applications for specific disadvantaged groups such as the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, language impaired, physically challenged, and senior citizens. By providing solutions for the demanding groups as well as simultaneously find target groups for service providers. III brings Taiwan application service industry to the world and witnesses the first step that Taiwan moves towards a barrier free smart city.
On this account, III not only launched 5 friendly APPs at “4G Friendly Application Forum & Demo Show” held on 28th January but also invited internationally well-known experts Michael Milligan, Secretary of Mobile Manufacture’s Forum and Hideki Soga, Senior Manager of International Department, NTT Docomo Japan to share their experience in barrier free and senior related mobile technology as well as the development trend in this field. With the convenient and intelligent design of the APPs, III expects to assist physically challenged friends and senior citizens enjoy a barrier free environment with friendly Apps for daily routines.
In the future, 4G public welfare applications will continuously move forward with the support from various innovative companies. III will help the innovative teams integrate current basic product services with the unique characteristics of 4G or develop alternative APPs for specific groups in accordance with 4G distinguishing qualities and simultaneously evaluate the service quality. From the users' experience, the teams can valuate the APPs from different angles such as the convenience of using the service, the friendliness of user interface, and the abundance of the content so that the whole process can form a complete feedback network. By cooperating with related social welfare associations and establishing the coaching and validation mechanism, III hope to accelerate the validation and proliferation of the value chain related to 4G public welfare application service.
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