[Editorial Review of Workers' Daily]
Original title: Expecting more inclusive digital technology to link up those "weak hands"
Worker's Daily - commentator of China Industrial Network Han Yunchao
If the iterative upgrading of digital technology is the dividend of the development of the times, when digital products and services become more inclusive and inclusive, illuminating those corners and people we ignore, more people will get happiness from digital civilization. When "there is always a way to do it" and "there is always a model for you" become a reality, it will undoubtedly show a more warm and moving side of technological power.
"Fail in the blink of an eye"... With the prompt sound again and again, a blind person encountered difficulties in applying for a medical insurance code on WeChat. According to a report on April 18 on the China Central Broadcasting Network, nowadays, many people need to "brush their faces" when handling various businesses online. The reporter found that many blind people, facial disfigurement patients, Alzheimer's patients, facial paralysis patients, disabled and mentally retarded people and other people, Even some elderly people with aging faces will encounter face recognition obstacles.
"Face brushing" certification has become an unavoidable link for the public when handling some online businesses. Usually, this link requires business applicants to nod, shake their heads, open their mouths, blink and other actions in front of the camera according to the system requirements, so as to carry out live verification and identification. This operation has certain advantages in safety and accuracy, but it also blocks some people with visual impairment or facial muscle activity disorder. Because they missed the high-speed railway due to their inability to recognize faces, they had to make a special trip to the offline counter to handle business and spend time and energy to issue relevant identity certificates... Similar obstacles make relevant people encounter difficulties from time to time in their daily lives.
To solve the dilemma of "failing to blink", we first need to prevent the abuse of face recognition and other technologies. Nowadays, the principle of minimum and necessity for collecting personal information has been repeatedly mentioned, but in reality, the forced promotion of a single face recognition verification method in some scenes that do not involve personal and property safety is not only unfriendly to the relevant people, but also has the risk of personal information disclosure of citizens.
Secondly, the aging and barrier free transformation of Internet applications still needs to be further strengthened. At present, the aging and barrier free transformation of Internet applications has achieved some results, such as some leading Internet enterprises launched large print APP, and added "wave" verification codes and audio verification codes for the disabled, but their application scenarios are far from meeting the actual needs.
Also, we need to strengthen the concept of science and technology for good. The progress and development of science and technology should ultimately benefit people. If scientific and technological progress becomes an obstacle to people's daily life and even aggravates some inequality, it is obviously against the original intention of scientific and technological development. In the digital era, how to let the public access to relevant digital technology at a lower cost, how to make digital technology more convenient, helpful, and respectful, so as to achieve more inclusive, inclusive, and fair technology is an important topic for digital technology development in the future.
If the iterative upgrading of digital technology is the dividend of the development of the times, when digital products and services become more inclusive and inclusive, illuminating those corners and people we ignore, more people will get happiness from digital civilization. When "there is always a way to do it" and "there is always a model for you" become a reality, it will undoubtedly show a more warm and moving side of technological power.
It is gratifying that the social consensus in this regard is gradually converging. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Accessible Environment Construction, which was officially implemented in September last year, contains quite a number of requirements for information accessibility construction; In the public opinion field, such as "the popularization and application of technology are slower, and the elderly are waiting for the first class", there are many voices; More and more technology companies are committed to making aging and accessibility a must for digital technology products; The digital transformation of enterprises and the digital governance of government departments are also taking active actions to better empower everyone with digital technology and improve the operating efficiency of the whole system
In reality, those who need to remove the "digital threshold" are not only limited to the elderly group, but also some special groups with low cultural or intellectual level, physical and psychological defects need to be brought into the category of attention in time. For this part of the population, technological inclusion is extremely slow. Failure to pass the verification once and the rejection of business handling may mean that they are blocked from integrating into the society and enjoying special social care.
To remove the digital threshold, we should not stay on paper or in documents. We need visible and tangible changes and actions. We need more hard core measures in the whole scene and chain. We need policy guidance from government departments, and we need scientific and technological enterprises to do something.
To make technology more inclusive and inclusive is to reaffirm the people-oriented concept. May the power of science and technology, while constantly overcoming difficulties and creating miracles, also take the initiative to hold those weak hands and play a greater role in the process of benefiting society and improving the well-being of more people.
