Digi-Up!: Youth changemakers for digital inclusion

Seniors smiled as they discovered how a simple prompt could generate Chinese New Year greetings, recipes and even reveal their yearly fortune based on their zodiac signs. This was Digi-Up!’s way of introducing digital learning to seniors, appealing to their interests while celebrating Chinese New Year at the same time.

A Festive Way to Give Back

After a transformative year of running digital programmes and forging partnerships with senior centres and community organisations across Singapore, the Digi-Up! team knew it was time to dream bigger and give back to the seniors during this festive period.

Working with more than 18 partners to host workshops, alongside festive performances and interactive booths, the event created a space where seniors could learn, connect, and enjoy the spirit of the season together. For some, it became a previous opportunity to be surrounded by community during a time that might otherwise feel quiet or lonely.

From Polytechnic Idea to Community Movement

With their founders having an average age of just 21, Digi-Up! was born out of a competition project by a group of polytechnic students. Inspired by their own grandparents’ experience with scams and the digital gap they observed at home, the team posed a simple question: what could youths do to make a meaningful difference?

Digital literacy stood out as a pressing need. That conviction drove their first initiative, SIMI Scam, a senior-friendly board game that they designed to teach seniors about scams and how to keep themselves safe against them, all in an engaging and relatable way. With the success of the game, Digi-Up! has expanded beyond anti-scam education. Today, they empower seniors with other digital skills through classes ranging from basic Generative AI (Gen AI) workshops to website design, helping them build confidence and independence in the fast changing digital world.

Learning Through Play: The SIMI Scam Game

At the heart of Digi-Up!’s approach is SIMI Scam, a board game inspired by the classic snakes-and-ladders format many seniors grew up with.

Instead of traditional lectures, players roll a dice and move across the board. Landing on ladders brings them forward. Landing on a “Scam Snake” prompts them to draw a scenario card based on real-life scams: from phishing messages to fake friend calls. There are also “Scam Chance” boxes, adding an element of surprise and friendly competition between the players.

By embedding learning within play, the game encourages discussion, peer learning and confidence-building as seniors play with their friends and loved ones. “By introducing learning within a social setting, and making it fun and memorable through a game, seniors are less stressed about learning something that may seem daunting to them. This makes their learning experience more memorable as well as delightful”, Alicia shared.

Strengthening the Digital for Life Movement

Since 2024, Digi-Up! has been a partner of the Infocomm Media Development Authority’s national Digital for Life movement, participating in initiatives such as the Digital for Life Festival and collaborating with the SG Digital Office in community events.

Through booth showcases and community engagements, they have brought their scam education game and AI literacy workshops to a wider audience, contributing to Singapore’s broader push towards digital inclusion.

In the year ahead, Digi-Up! plans to work more closely with Active Ageing Centres and IMDA’s Digital Clubs to grow their programmes. Their goal is clear: to make digital learning accessible, useful and fun for seniors across Singapore.

ChatGPT with a Festive Twist

Among the highlights was a special Chinese New Year edition of their popular ChatGPT class. Since 2024, Digi-Up! has been running regular workshops introducing seniors to Gen AI tools such as ChatGPT.

Seniors using ChatGPT to come up with innovative festive greetings

Inspired by this festive session, the team contextualised seniors’ AI learning around Chinese New Year traditions and activities that they tend to enjoy. Seniors learnt how to:

• Ask ChatGPT about their luck based on their zodiac signs
• Generate unique and heartfelt bai nian greetings
• Discover new reunion dinner recipes
• Create personalised birthday posters for loved ones
• Plan outings to new attractions in Singapore

Through hands-on guidance, the seniors quickly realised that AI tools were not as intimidating as they seemed. “Some of the common misconceptions that seniors have is that AI is very hard to use, but in fact, it’s actually quite easy.” Alicia Hong, Co-Founder and CEO of Digi-Up! commented. “That’s why we always make sure that we give seniors ample hands-on practice in our workshops.”

While the one-hour festive workshop focused on imparting practical, real-life uses of GenAI tools, Digi-Up!’s regular two-hour AI classes also addresses potential risks that comes with GenAI’s growing prevalence, such as deepfake scams, ensuring seniors understand both the benefits and potential risks of emerging technologies and are able to keep themselves safe.

SG Digital Officer’s Digital Ambassadors guided seniors through GenAI’s uses and risks.

At the event, SG Digital Office’s workshop further deepened seniors’ knowledge to the fundamentals of GenAI in a practical and accessible way. Participants learnt about the history of GenAI, common applications of GenAI, and were shown real-world examples of deepfakes to better understand how such technologies can be misused. Beyond building awareness, the session equipped seniors with essential skills to identify false or misleading AI-generated content through visual examples of real images and AI-generated images, empowering them to make safer, more informed decisions in an increasingly digital world.