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HKSTP Companies to Showcase Innovative Gerontech Solutions

Hong Kong Gerontech Solutions for Elders

The number of people aged 60 years and overgrow is estimated to grow over the next few years. In Hong Kong, the number of people aged 65 or older will reach 2.58 million by 2064, equivalent to more than a third of the city’s current population, OpenGov Asia reported in October 2019.

While the city currently has the highest life expectancy in the world – 84.3 years – and reflects an impressive healthcare system, this means that older people tend to rely rather heavily on healthcare services.

The challenge is enabling them to live independent active lives, within the means of the taxpayer and their extended families.

Recently, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) led 29 Park companies to showcase their latest innovations at the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit (GIES) 2019.

The event was co-hosted by the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and co-organised by HKSTP for the third consecutive year.

GIES is the only Gerontech fair in Hong Kong and aims to promote the application of innovative technologies and ideas to enhance the quality of life for the elderly.

HKSTP hosted one of the largest pavilions at GIES this year, where 29 participating Park companies displayed cross-disciplinary innovations and solutions ranging from assistive equipment, predictive applications, early diagnostics devices, smart wearables to health monitoring platforms, with the theme of “Tech-empowered Healthy Ageing”.

All exhibited innovations, incorporating various technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), sensor and big data analytics, represent a medal for excellence in elderly care, in-home support, treatment and rehabilitation services.

In light of the fast-ageing population and an increase in the demand for public healthcare services, Healthy Ageing is one of HKSTP’s core technology focus areas. By co-organising GIES, HKSTP strives to provide a platform for Park companies to engage in intimate dialogue and collaboration with stakeholders in the ecosystem, in pursuit of new business opportunities and partnership. At present, over a hundred of Park companies work in tandem to develop practical healthcare applications and solutions, in a bid to make Hong Kong an elderly-friendly city.

OpenGov Asia reported earlier that the Hong Kong government earmarked HK$1 billion to procure, rent and trial new technology products that promise to improve the lives of elderly people.

Engaging Senior Citizens

A member of Hong Kong’s senior population became interested in how gerontechnology can help improve the quality of life for older adults. She joined the Gerontechnology Practitioner Training Course under Lingnan University’s Gerontechnology & Smart Ageing Project.

The course targets elderly people and caregivers. It introduces them to devices that help seniors get around with ease and live more independent lives.

An example is the smart walking stick which is equipped with senior-worthy features like a flashlight with an adjustable safety light, a siren for emergency use and a radio.

The citizen said the course allows her to learn more about gerontechnology in her free time. After class, knowledge can be shared with others who have no idea about this new technology.

Leaning on the Youth

Gerontechnology has also opened up career opportunities for young people.

A marketing major and graduate from Lingnan University set up a social enterprise called Gatherly in 2018. The platform provides a platform for the elderly to teach other people handicraft skills and helps them to sell their products online.

She discovered that her social enterprise would need to change every two years according to market demands. For example, fabric bags are popular among youngsters. While the elderly at Gatherly are equipped with blue-dye techniques, she can make use of their skills to create products that match the market situation.

In this way, Hong Kong is finding new and innovative ways to inclusively care for its elderly members, making the effort community-driven and collaborative.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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