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* Atleast Project Title is Required.
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Project No. |
TEL 01 2011A
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Project Title |
ICT Applications for People with Special Needs (Ageing and Handicapped)
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Project Status |
Completed Project
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Publication (if any) |
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Fund Account |
APEC Support Fund
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Sub-fund |
ASF: General Fund
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Project Year |
2011
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Project Session |
Session 2
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APEC Funding |
90,000
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Co-funding Amount |
20,000
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Total Project Value |
110,000
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Sponsoring Forum |
Telecommunications and Information Working Group (TELWG)
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Topics |
Telecommunications and Information
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Committee |
SOM Steering Committee on Economic and Technical Cooperation (SCE)
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Other Fora Involved |
Not Applicable / Other
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Other Non-APEC Stakeholders Involved |
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Proposing Economy(ies) |
Japan; Singapore
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Co-Sponsoring Economies |
Australia; Canada; China; Indonesia; Korea; Peru; Philippines; Russia; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; United States; Viet Nam
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Expected Start Date |
20/06/2011
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Expected Completion Date |
31/12/2012
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Project Proponent Name 1 |
Toshio Obi
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Job Title 1 |
Director and Professor
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Organization 1 |
Waseda University of Japan
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Postal Address 1 |
Nishi Waseda Bldg. GSAPS 703, 1-21-1 Nishi Waseda, Shinjuku, 169-0051 Tokyo, Japan
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Telephone 1 |
813-5286-8032
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Fax 1 |
813-5286-8032
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Email 1 |
obi.waseda@waseda.jp
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Project Proponent Name 2 |
James Kang
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Job Title 2 |
Assistant Chief Executive and CIO
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Organization 2 |
IDA of Singapore
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Postal Address 2 |
IDA 8 Temasek Boulevard #14-00 Suntec Tower 3 Singapore
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Telephone 2 |
65-6211-0888
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Fax 2 |
65-6211-2227
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Email 2 |
james_KANG@ida.gov.sq
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Declaration |
Toshio Obi and James Kang
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Project Summary |
The main goal of this project is to create an effective platform for knowledge exchange on innovation for assistive ICT and applications for elderly and disabled people. The project is developed in compliance with the declaration of the TELMIN8 and the resolutions for bridging digital divide adopted at the previous APEC meetings. It will include evaluation of experiences in implementation of and manpower training for ICT for people with special needs in participating economies. The key activities of the project include experts meeting at TEL45 in Vietnam on preparing agenda of Tokyo workshop and research design (March ); midterm review meeting in Singapore (June) ,publication of economy reports (March-Sept); Tokyo workshop for policy-makers and Experts (September),Online (e-learning) capacity building sessions for training for trainers in networking the relevant institutions in developing economies with matrix for evaluation process (March.-Dec ). Project results will be promoted through a project website and publication of Economy and final report. The project will continue in 2013 as a self-funded project to make sustainability.
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Relevance |
The general motivation for this project derives from an almost worldwide demographic change phenomenon characterized by a rapidly ageing population. According to UN estimations the global population of older persons is growing at a rate of 2.6 per cent per year, which is more than twice faster than the growth of the population as a whole. Developing economies are ageing at a faster pace than developed economies and thus will have less time to adjust to the consequences of population ageing. These consequences among others include a shortage of a productive workforce to contribute to the creation of economic wealth and to the financing of health and social services; a shortage of caregivers providing support to older, often impaired people. People with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific region make up approximately 60% of the world's 650 million persons with disabilities according to UN estimations. People with disabilities is the most marginalized group in the society that faces significant levels of poverty and unemployment and has limited access to education, housing, transportation, health services and recreation, leading to their social exclusion.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are recognized to have potential for easing the social burdens of graying population on one hand, and for boosting economic growth in the region on another. ICT is an effective tool for sustaining independent living, enabling older people to participate longer in working life, enabling their greater democratic engagement and societal integration, thus ensuring enhanced quality of life for all members of a society. In spite of recognized potential of ICTs, government and private sector efforts have been insufficient in ensuring promotion and full take-up of ICT-based solutions. Even in wealthier economies where a growing number of older persons and senior households are found to be willing and economically able to secure independent living, there is a lack of ICT-based solutions meeting special needs and demands of older generations and persons with disabilities.
Unified efforts of both developed and developing economies are needed in order to address common challenges resulting from demographic changes. Solid research and exploration of appropriate measures to exploit ICTs for social and economic benefit people with special needs, sharing experiences with successful promotion and taking up of ICT-based solutions is an indispensable task for international communities. The main goal of the proposed project, is therefore to create an effective platform for knowledge exchange on facilitation of innovation for assistive info-communication technologies and applications to meet the needs of rapidly ageing and physically restricted populations.
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Objectives |
The key objectives of the project are to:
1) Bring together and integrate the expertise of researchers, policy makers and representatives from the business sector and NGOs for elaboration of efficient measures for human resource development related to ICT for ageing and disabled, and for defining APEC model on capacity building to assist developing economies in creation of manpower training courses for trainers for people with special needs.
2) Establish and operate an international network of policy specialists, NGOs, private and public sectors’ organizations, education and research institutions involved in any aspect of production/delivery chain of ICT based solutions for people with special needs, in order to share and translate relevant knowledge into operational plans and detailed actions for acceleration of production and commercialization of innovative solutions meeting all possible needs of the senior people and people with special needs.
3) Develop matrix for measuring introduction, adoption, impact, value and return of ICT as benchmark for benefiting the elderly and disabled by transferring “Technology/Knowledge/Methodology” from developed to developing economies. The integration of Matrix for implementing online education for manpower development into the project is essential for effectiveness and impact for developing economies.
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Alignment |
The proposed project is in line with Okinawa declaration approved at the eighth APEC Ministerial meeting on the Telecommunications and Information Industry, prioritizing development and implementation of strategies “to make ICT more accessible to all people so as to enable people with special needs to fully participate in the digital economy” (page 2, paragraph 12) and encouraging “discussions within the APEC region on the use of ICT to enhance socio-economic outcomes in various areas such as health care, education, energy, the environment and disaster management.
This project is also based on TEL work plan and will create a framework for capacity building models for training and education of trainers at universities, government and other institutions providing relevant education and training programs for elderly and disabled.
Collaboration among economies will result in reduced costs and accelerated innovation for ICT based solution and services for people with special needs. The ICT markets in the respective economies will grow more rapidly and specific sectors such as smart phone industry, robotics, health and social care will enjoy additional benefits.
The resulting outcomes of this project therefore have a direct beneficial impact on economic activity in the region and thus correspond to the primary goal of APEC, directed to support of sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and transfer of technology and applications from developed to developing economies which have shortages of experts and training facilities as well as applicable models
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TILF/ASF Justification |
Considering a lack of ICT knowledge workers in developing economies, this project foresees a series of training and awareness sessions for trainers in developing economies to inform about the latest technologies for elderly and disabled. In addition, definition of APEC model on capacity building for people with special needs will allow describing the skills and competencies that are presently and potentially required for elderly and disable people in order to a sustain lifestyle in ubiquitous society and will assist developing economies in creation of manpower training courses for people with special needs.
The outcomes of the proposed project will thus contribute to employment creation for and skills upgrading of senior and physically restricted workers and will provide effective tools for democratic empowerment and social inclusion of people with special needs which will soon be constituting the major stakeholder group in the economies.
Capacity building programs will be realized by a network of educational and training institutions in APEC region via face-to-face and online /e-learning programs creating courseware and curriculum development. The online program as virtual class room using e-learning system for offering the various subjects of ICT applications including social innovation and e-accessibility in weekly basis on mastering the core competences of trainers and researchers. The network will include the following institutions: Japan – Waseda University, NICT and LASDEC; China-Peking University and Fudan University, USA - George Mason University and George Washington University; Thailand – NECTEC; Thammasat University; Singapore - IDA, NUS; Philippines - La Salle University; Vietnam – PTIT; Peru - ESAN University; Chinese Taipei – Taiwan E-governance Research Center; Russia – Academy of National Economy ,and other institutions of co-sponsoring economies.
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Beneficiaries and Outputs |
The beneficiaries will include the public and private sector and civil society in all economies of the APEC region as well as non-APEC economies faced with the similar problems of drastic increase of ageing population and growing number of people with special needs.
A series of training and awareness sessions will inform beneficiaries in developing economies about the latest technologies for elderly and disabled and thus help to increase awareness, knowledge and literacy of ICT for ageing and disabled. Definition of APEC model on capacity building for people with special needs will assist beneficiaries in creation of manpower training courses for trainers on people with special needs. Developed matrix for measuring introduction, adoption, impact, value and return of ICT for benefiting the elderly and disabled will serve as a useful analytical tool for policy specialists, NGOs, private and public sectors’ organizations, education and research institutions involved in any aspect of production/delivery chain of ICT for ageing and disabled.
Under the situation of lack of well trained trainers in developing economies, the matrix for overall key benchmarks by digital inclusion,e-usability,e-accessbility,e-affordability,e-safety,e-security,global standard ,environment friendly ,privacy and other indicators which will be used at the online program will make the excellent source of impact for trainers, managers and researchers as the beneficial users
Experts meeting in APECTEL in Vietnam will be the 1st phase to have various professional people will join. Midterm review meeting in Singapore will be gathered by ICT experts from co-proponents-Japan and Singapore
Participants of Workshop for policy makers and experts in Tokyo will be selected from multi sectors on different expertise for such as life innovation, healthcare and home electronics by the project team and provide recommendations for elaboration of efficient measures to transform ICT industry so as to accelerate production and commercialization of innovative solutions meeting all possible needs of the senior people and people with special needs.
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Dissemination |
The project promotion and dissemination will be mainly achieved through an international workshop in Tokyo for policy-makers and experts, face-to-face meetings with policy specialists and a publication of a final report (white paper). Project results and findings will be promoted through a project website. In addition, communication of the intermediate and final results of this project will be done through presentations at relevant conferences, notes in special-interest newsletters and magazines. Academic communities (APEC and non-APEC), governmental officials, NGO and business communities will be approached to inform the wider audiences of interested parties about the project results and outcomes.
Final report will be published as a book targeting academic community, i.e., students, researchers, professors, involved in the relevant research and trainings.
Notes about the workshop outcome will be published in the Journal of e-Governance targeting policymakers, private sector, members of international organizations concerned with the development of ICT industry.
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Gender |
Gender considerations will be taken into account when nominating research teams, inviting stakeholders’ for discussions at the workshops, defining interviewees, workshop speakers and chairs, project overseers.
Gender considerations will be taken into account when delivering a series of trainings in developing countries in ICT area which normally have a small concentration of women, thereby empowering women to enter that field.
The resulting outcomes of this project have a direct beneficial impact on women as they constitute majority among the elderly people.
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Work Plan |
The research work will be based on a comparative analysis conducted at international level in order to guarantee results with a higher level of robustness and generalizability. The project will include both test bed and evaluation and comparative analysis of experiences and implementation of ICT for ageing and disabled in Japan, Singapore and participating economies.
There will be 4 steps to achieve the goal as follows: (1) Consultation between co-proponents-Waseda and IDA ,(2)Experts meeting at APECTEL in Vietnam,(3) Test bed for online program for training for trainers (4) Tokyo Workshop as highlights of the project in October
The following are the key activities and deliverables scheduled for 2012:
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dates
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Actions
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involvement of stakeholers and beneficiaries
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Outputs
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January
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Nomination of project team to coordinate the project and to provide ongoing guidance
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Project team members will be nominated by the by the Project Overseers
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List of project team members, contracts
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January-March
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Research and analysis to formulate a research outline and training tool
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Member economies will be encouraged to provide their input on research design training tools and metrics development for measuring introduction, adoption, impact, value and return of ICT for benefiting the elderly and disabled.
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Research outline, measurement indicators
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February
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Local and international discussions to outline Tokyo workshop agenda
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Member economies will be encouraged to assist in developing workshop agenda
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Tentative agenda of Tokyo workshop
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February- December
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Setting-up a project website; Test bed for online program
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Member economies will be encouraged to identify relevant resources and the type of information that can be retrieved from them. The test bed will be implemented among Waseda,Fudan in China , Thammasat univ. in Thailand and other possible institutions for training among member economies The website will be open to the trainers for their benefits from use of text materials
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Project website
Online training programs by courseware developed by the project team for beneficial to the users of contents in light of e-usability, e-accessibility and e- affordability
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March
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Experts meeting at APECTEL in Vietnam
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Member economies are encouraged to agree the vision on the research design, metrics for measuring introduction, adoption, impact, value and return of ICT for benefiting the elderly and disabled.
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Setting up Agenda of Tokyo workshop, research design ,training and contents of economy reports
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March-June
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Meetings with national and international organisations
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Project oversees will outline potential cooperation activities with national and international organisations such as OECD in the relevant fields
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List of cooperation activities
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March - September
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Preparation of economy reports
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Project team in cooperation with Member economies will be responsible for preparation of economy reports. Member economies will be encouraged to assist in gathering specific information, analyzing successes and failures of development and commercialization of ICT for seniors and people with disabilities; conducting surveys, interviewing representatives from academic communities, governmental organizations, NGO and business communities
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Preparing Comprehensive reports
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June
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Mid-term review meeting among project co-proponents in Singapore
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Project team with participation of key project partners will be responsible for development of monitoring and evaluation plans for periodic assessment of progress and delivery of specified results and specific activities leading towards these results
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Project monitoring report. Observers from co-sponsoring economies will be welcome to consolidate and revise the program if necessary for improvement
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September
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Workshop in Tokyo to disseminate findings and to invited experts to discuss policy planning and agenda setting
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Project team will be responsible for reporting activities and findings. Beneficiaries and stakeholders (academic communities, governmental organizations, NGO and business communities) will be invited to the workshop to discuss policy and strategy for action
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3 days Workshop in Tokyo with policy makers and experts with both ICT and social innovation sectors
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October
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Data collection, integration, analysis,
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Project team will be responsible for drafting the report and APEC model on capacity building for people with special needs
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Draft of the report on the outcome of Tokyo Workshop
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October
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Local and international discussions between project team and participating economies about the outcomes of the project
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Project team shall be responsible for conducting consultations on research results with participating economies, academic communities, governmental organizations, NGO and business communities
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Inputs of additional resources, amended report
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November
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Online Training and awareness program for developing economies to inform about the latest innovative technologies for elderly and disabled
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Member economies will suggest a list of potential beneficiaries of the training for trainers based on the outcomes
Project team will be responsible for improve content development and delivery
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Proposal and delivery of new model on Online Training program based on ongoing digital inclusion program
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December
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Publication of the Final report
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Project team shall be responsible for finalising and publishing the project report to the relevant groups on the issue as well as APEC member economies for world attention and awareness of the future actions
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Final report as outcome and feedback of the project
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Risks |
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Risk
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Probability
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Impact
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Action
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Staff: Difficulties in hiring staff; Lack of skills; Loss of key staff
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low
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mid
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Project management team already. All members of the project management team have the relevant experience. Key staff consultancy is agreed in case of withdrawal. Workload to be shared among skilled staff. Keep project management transparent to project team. Team work structure across partners. Existing staff will be drawn upon in case of loss of key staff or absence due to sickness as crisis management.
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Organizational: An institution withdraws from the project; Failure to get all parties to share same understanding of purpose; Failure to meet project milestones, including completion of cases on time
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low
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mid
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All the organizations involved are well-established with proven track records of achievement. No major organizational changes are expected before the end of the project. Detailed consultation with academics during project development phase. Maintain good communication levels. Dissemination of clear information and agreement for support from all the members. Project management structure to be established; mechanisms to support communication will be implemented. Efficient management and monitoring procedures of the project execution to provide early warning of problems
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Technical risks for online training programs for maintenance
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mid
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low
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Identifying the requirements clearly and completely. Rely on effective technical staffing with key incentives offered. Multiple technology paths will be identified as backup system
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External suppliers
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low
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mid
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Undertake extensive research of potential suppliers and select good externally verifiable suppliers. Investigate other suppliers. Obtain warranties from suppliers. Include penalty cause in suppliers’ contract for delay in service/product delivery.
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Legal
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low
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low
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Legal issues will be referred to legal experts
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Monitoring and Evaluation |
Monitoring and evaluation plans will be developed with participation of key project partners and will be based on periodic assessment of progress and delivery of specified results and specific activities leading towards these results. Results of the project will be evaluated against meeting its objectives. Feedback from stakeholder communities and internal evaluation will be conducted to monitor and evaluate the project.
Workshop for policy-makers and experts will be evaluated against the extent to which it deliver appropriate, good quality and effectively conveyed content. Evaluation of the workshop will be conducted through a questionnaire distributed among the participants and attendees to capture their level of satisfaction with the event. It will be complemented by face-to-face interviews to collect comments from workshop participants.
Evaluation of the online training sessions for developing economies to inform about the latest technologies for elderly and disabled will be based on questionnaires and focus group interviews to capture satisfaction levels of the trainees with the quality of content and format. To assess long term impact, management of the institutions at developing economies will be surveyed to investigate whether awareness, knowledge and literacy of ICT for ageing and disabled of the key personnel have increased after taking a training session. Validity of the developed APEC model on capacity building for people with special needs will be evaluated by expert group such as international academy of CIO which will work on simultaneous way.
Project success in establishment of an international network of policy specialists, NGOs, private and public sectors’ organizations, education and research institutions involved in any aspect of production/service chain of ICT for ageing solutions, will be evaluated against the number of institutions to join the network and the feedback about the importance of such cooperation collected from the network members. In a long term evaluation will be conducted against the intensity and quality of cooperation activities within the network during a follow-up project.
Quality of developed matrix for measuring introduction, adoption, impact, value and return of ICT for benefiting the elderly and disabled will be evaluated based on peer review.
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Linkages |
There are currently no APEC projects directed at facilitation of innovation of assistive technologies and applications for ageing and physically restricted people. There is the ongoing OECD initiative focused on ICT for health. OECD member-economies include to a large extend developed countries, thus China, Indonesia, Vietnam and other developing countries of Asia Pacific with growing numbers of ageing and disabled population have little to benefit from this initiative. However, APEC HRDWG is very important as relevant fora within APEC and PO will try to engage in working together.
The proposed project is aimed at benefiting developing member economies to facilitate service/business model exchanges, sharing experiences with successful marketing approaches, facilitation of technology transfer and commercialization in the area of ICT for ageing. The project will build on the work already done by the co-proponent economies. It will build on the findings of the Japanese and Singapore Government projects and activities of co-sponsoring economies such as USA, China and other leading economies in the field of ICT for ageing and disabled. Cooperation on matters of mutual interests with international organizations such as OECD, ITU, EU, PECC and ABAC as external non-APEC stakeholders will be established in accordance with the Declaration of APEC TELMIN8 (page 4, paragraph 24) to provide knowledge exchange and avoid duplication of efforts.
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Sustainability |
The project will continue to have impact through the activities to be established international network of policy specialists, NGOs, private and public sectors’ organizations, education and research institutions involved in any aspect of production/delivery chain of ICT for ageing solutions.
The network will continue to cultivate current partners and new stakeholders through offering opportunities for continued involvement in new initiatives directed at acceleration of production and commercialization of innovative solutions meeting all possible needs of the senior people and people with special needs.
Broad partnership of the established network will provide opportunities for multiple sources of financial support. Private funding sources can be sought within cooperation activities between the network members. The expertise of researchers, policy-makers, private companies brought together in the network will allow seeking additional funds through provision of consultancy and training programs.
Stakeholders and beneficiaries will be provided necessary guidance for application of project outputs. Application of capacity building model, metrics for measuring impacts of ICT for benefiting people with special needs by participating economies as well as by other interested parties within the established international network will carry forward the results of the project benefiting the elderly and disabled. Stakeholders and beneficiaries will be encouraged to report their experience with usage of the project outputs on the project website.
The project website will provide opportunities for effective communication, collaboration and resource sharing. It will raise awareness for ICT potential in benefiting elderly and disabled will inform interested stakeholders from science, innovative industries and policy making about opportunities for an enhanced cooperation and will foster active networking among the member economies.
After completion of the APEC funding it will provide a gateway to digitalized content with project materials, results, lessons learned, links, contact details and brief description of partnering organizations and will be regularly updated to inform the forthcoming activities of the network and to share their outcomes.
The project will continue in 2013 as a self-funded project. The follow-up activities will be informed at the APECTEL meeting in 2012.
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Project Overseers |
The project will be coordinated by the APEC e-government research center directed by Professor Toshio Obi and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) directed by Mr. James Kang.
Prof Obi is the Director of APEC e-Government Research Center and the Special Envoy of ITU Secretary General for Academia as well as Professor of Graduate Schools of both Asia & Pacific Studies, and Global Information & Telecommunication Studies at Waseda University. He heads the research team that authors the Waseda University World e-Government Ranking. His published works include “CIO Theory” (Tokyo Univ. Press), “The Digital Network Industrial Revolution” (PHP Press) and “Navigating the Unchartered New Communication Age” (Nikkei BP). Prof Obi is an Advisory Committee member of Prime Minister on e-Japan Strategy for 2007-2009 and Chair of the National e-Government Promotion Council of Japan. He also serves as a Chair for the Committee on ICT applications for Ageing society at the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC), and as Chair of UNESCO UNITWIN Programme on ICT for Disaster Education in Asia. Prof. Obi gained his both BA and Master degrees from Keio University and PhD from Waseda University.
Mr. James Kang is the Assistant Chief Executive and Government CIO. He is overseeing initiatives to harness info-communication technology for the government and other sectors in Singapore, such as the iGov 2010 master plan and info-communication projects to support the development of the education, financial, transport and trade and logistics sectors. Before his appointment as the GCIO, Mr. Kang was the Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice-president of Customer & Technology Divisions at NTUC Income, where he has successfully transformed the organization’s IT operations into a totally paperless system and redesigned business processes with enhanced efficiency. Among the projects he implemented was the Big Trumpet Project, a Public-Private-People partnership model offering useful integrated services to the customers. During his tenure as the CIO, NTUC Income won numerous awards for excellence, including t Outstanding Enterprise Innovation Award in 2008 in the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Kang also won the CIO Asia Award in 2004
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Cost Efficiency |
Cost efficiency is achieved though the maximum use of existing resources of the institutions coordinating the project. Involvement of university as one of the project coordinating institution allows benefiting from its training facilities, human recourses, academic recourses, established university partnership network. Involvement of government institution in charge of info-communication policy provides additional cost-benefit by granting access to the sector expertise. Online program is the most cost efficiency for training. Tokyo workshop will benefit all participants to understand the aged-disability facilities in super-ageing society. The project is to become the first activity by APEC for introducing ICT solution on the people with special needs and recommending several key issues as the 1st step. with tremendous cost-benefit outcomes.
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Drawdown Timetable |
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Direct Labour |
The Researcher will work with 1000 hours /$15 per hour for preparing the Tokyo workshop and economy reports. They are university students; $15 is high class hour-wage for student in Tokyo. Since we will have 6 months before the start in January 2012, we do not have a specific name yet.
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Waivers |
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Are there any supporting document attached? |
No
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Attachments
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