Singapore has launched an initiative to provide digital connectivity to 30,000 individuals from vulnerable segments with the aim to enrich lives.

More than 110 private-public-people partners have joined the Data for All initiative.

Announced at this week’s inaugural Digital for Life (DfL) Festival, organised by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the initiative aims to mobilise the community to come forward to pledge their support and provide individuals from vulnerable segments with 30,000 mobile data lines worth more than $3m.

This collective effort by the customers of M1, Gomo by Singtel and Giga! by StarHub, together with seven public organisations, social service agencies and community partners such as AMKFSC Community Services, Care Corner, Lions Befrienders, Ministry of Social & Family Development (MSF)’s Community Link (ComLink), NTUC Health, SG Enable and Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities will benefit about 30,000 children, youths and seniors from low-income families, as well as persons with disabilities and their caregivers.

The Data for All initiative exemplifies the multiplying contribution of DfL’s private-public-people partners. It shows how corporates are collaborating with people sector partners to mobilise their network and resources for more to contribute to building an inclusive digital society.

M1, Gomo and Giga! have committed to create awareness of the DfL movement, and to mobilise their customers to join the DfL movement by pledging their support or donate their unused data through the Data for All initiative.

Each telco has committed to providing 10,000 mobile data lines, which will collectively support 30,000 beneficiaries. Working with people and public sector partners, each telco will reach out to the beneficiaries as follows:

• MSF ComLink will reach out to youths and children from low-income families
• AMKFSC Community Services, Care Corner, Lions Befrienders, NTUC Health and Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities will reach out to seniors from low-income families
• SG Enable will reach out to persons with disabilities and their caregivers

The inaugural DfL Festival is Singapore’s flagship tech event by the community for the community. Organised by IMDA, the first of the annual DfL Festival aims to bring programmes and activities to enable Singaporeans from all walks of life to learn, explore and be enriched by the benefits of digital technology. After participating in these experiences, participants are encouraged to play a part through donations or by volunteering their skills and time to support the national movement.

More than 110 partners have come together to organise activities, provide outreach and publicity to mobilise the community for the DfL Festival. Partners include corporate organisations such as Google, Maybank, MediaCorp, NTUC FairPrice, POSB, Singapore Pools, Lego, he Straits Times and Zoom. Government agencies such as the Cyber Security Agency, GovTech, National Library Board, Smart Nation & Digital Government Office and non-profit organisations such as the Association of Information Security Professionals, Cyber Youth Singapore, Lions Befrienders, SG Enable and SOOS OIO also stepped forward to lend their support.

With the easing of safe management measurements, Singaporeans are encouraged to bring their families and friends to learn, explore and play a part at the DfL Festival. Participants will enjoy free interactive workshops and activities to pick up useful digital skills and knowledge on topics ranging from coding, cyber security, healthy e-gaming, e-banking and government e-services. In addition, participants can visit the exhibition booths to gain hands-on experience with assistive technologies (AT) and emerging technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

The nine-day festival runs until May29.

Beyond the two DfL Festival sites, there are activities organised in another 50 locations across the island. This kick-starts IMDA’s efforts to entrench the DfL movement deeper to mobilise the community to play a part, through the SG Digital Office (SDO). These activities will see the involvement of partners and ground-up volunteers organising cyber-security talks for seniors, interest groups on a range of issues, as well as virtual reality trails for multi-generational families to explore and embrace digital together.

For instance, SDO has partnered with Geylang Serai Integration & Naturalisation Champions to curate a digital edition of the Geylang Serai Heritage Trail so more seniors will be excited to go digital with their families with this enjoyable activity, which will be released later this month.