SK Telecom announced on the 2nd that it had analyzed data to address information imbalance and isolation among the elderly in collaboration with the National Statistical Office and Changwon City.
This analysis aimed to specifically diagnose the information imbalance and isolation phenomena among the elderly, clearly identify related social issues, and derive improvement measures, with cooperation among SKT, the National Statistical Office, and Changwon City.
SKT reported that its analysis of the “information imbalance phenomenon among the elderly” confirmed a significant decrease in smartphone service usage among those aged 65 and older. For those aged 75 and above, smartphone usage was found to be only about 20% of the average usage seen in the general population.
While the elderly use information and leisure-related services relatively well, they tend to use essential living services like finance and shopping less, indicating that they face real difficulties in utilizing transportation apps for ticket purchases or accessing financial services.
Furthermore, the analysis of “isolation and reclusiveness among the elderly” revealed a worsening isolation phenomenon among low-income elderly individuals. Notably, the lower their income, the more significantly their usage of messaging services like social networking and their frequency of going out decreased.
Through this analysis, SKT indicated that it can provide clear benchmarks for addressing elderly isolation, which could contribute to resolving related social issues in the future.
This analysis utilized anonymized data from SKT’s smartphone usage information segmented into over 150 categories, along with household and income information from the National Statistical Office. The results were shared at the Changwon Future Forum held on the 30th, and they will be utilized as resources for enhancing social participation and welfare of the elderly.
Changwon City plans to use the results of this analysis to improve information education programs for the elderly in the community, focusing on content that is truly needed in daily life. Additionally, they intend to assess the scale of isolation among elderly households in each administrative district to aid in developing related policies.
SKT aims to continuously expand its collaboration with local governments nationwide based on data analysis using telecommunications data, generating insights into various social issues and contributing to the establishment of realistic support policies.
Jang Hong-seong, head of SKT AdTech CO, stated, “SKT is continuously cooperating with the National Statistical Office to diagnose issues faced by marginalized groups through data. We have previously conducted analyses on ‘citizens’ evacuation methods during disasters’ and ‘the living conditions and economic crises of single-person households in Seoul,’ and we will also cooperate with welfare authorities and local governments on the issues of information imbalance and isolation among the elderly that we have analyzed this time.”
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr