An important factor in enhancing the sustainability of an ageing society is effectiveness in facilitating advancements in relevant areas including assistive technology, inclusive design, etc. for enabling independent living and social participation of older adults in good health, comfort and safety.

The Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit (GIES) is thus organised by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation to provide a platform for all relevant parties, from experts, industry leaders and policymakers in relevant disciplines to the elderly persons and their families and carers to share their views and get stimulated, with the aim of enhancing public awareness on technology and innovation for the elderly and encouraging the development and adoption of relevant solutions in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is lucky to be one of the places enjoying the longest life expectancy in the world. While longevity should be celebrated, it is also the defining challenge of our time. We need to make sure that the longer lives of our elderly are lived well and healthily. It is the healthy life expectancy, not just life expectancy, that we should aspire for. But our current system is already under strain in keeping up with the social service and health care needs of today’s ageing population. As the pace of our demographic change continues to accelerate with the elderly proportion climbing from the existing 17% to 31% in the next 20 years, the demand will grow substantially. Changes are essential to manage the huge demand for care in the coming years. Much of the answer lies in innovation.

While we will always be fascinated by state-of-art technologies such as robotic health workers, not all innovation requires rocket science. Indeed, for most elderly who are ageing at home, what they need are relatively low tech solutions or even tech-free products with effective design to prevent falls or help them manage their declining hearing and visual ability as well as mobility. Care-givers or family members can also benefit from innovation as through mobile devices they can stay connected with the elderly and monitor their medication record or health situation such as blood pressure. Further, innovation can help professional care workers in institutionalised settings do their jobs easier, better and safer while improving the quality of care for the elderly.

In recent years, we are encouraged by the emergence of local innovation to improve the functioning of our elderly, slow their physical or cognitive decline, manage their chronic, non-communicable disease conditions, support their autonomy, facilitate their social inclusion, delay their institutionalisation and thus turn ageing in place into a reality. These accomplishments notwithstanding, much work remains to be done. We see the need for greater awareness and appreciation of the power of technology and innovation in changing the way we age amongst our elderly and their care-givers, policy makers, industry leaders and healthcare/social service professionals. We see the need for engaging the elderly in articulating their needs and preferences and facilitating discussion between the Government and other stakeholders on how best to match technology or enable innovation to meet elderly’s needs in the light of overseas experience. We also see the need for fostering closer collaboration among various stakeholders in the innovation cycle to smoothen the process from the incubation of an idea to ultimately benefiting elderly users.

These are the motivations behind our organising the first GIES on 16-18 June 2017 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It will be held as one of the celebratory activities of the 20^th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The objectives of GIES are to promote community awareness of the power of technology and innovation for healthy and active ageing; identify the driving forces and hurdles in encouraging innovation for the ageing population in Hong Kong; and prioritise the areas that are in most need of innovative solutions to cope with the ageing challenge. We look forward to receiving you and having fruitful exchanges at the GIES in June this year.

The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) is an umbrella organization of over 450 Agency Members, that provide quality social welfare services for those in need through thousands of service units all over Hong Kong. We devote to promote a just and inclusive society by promoting collaborative efforts among NGOs in service planning and development, advocating social policy advancement as well as facilitating cross-sectoral partnership.

Adoption of innovation and technology provides new opportunities for advancing long term care and raising quality of life in the new era.  The HKCSS has looked into the possibility of bringing in assistive technology and inclusive design to enable independent living and social participation so that senior citizens could be assured of good health, dignity, comfort and safety.

The Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit marks the beginning of the Council’s effort in congregating a crowd of multidisciplinary experts, leaders in the community and service users to promote gerontechnology.  It is also a signature event in celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the HKCSS in 2017.

The HKCSS looks forward to seeing more tailor-made and purpose-built products and services becoming available in Hong Kong, so as to support ageing in place with dignity, independence and choice.

Venue: Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre Hall 3DE

Address:1 Expo Drive, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Opening Ceremony and VIP tour

16June 2017 (Friday)                              10:00 – 12:00  (for Media and VIPs only)

Exhibition Date and Time for Public

16June 2017 (Friday)                              13:00 – 19:00

17June 2017 (Saturday)                          10:00 – 19:00

18June 2017 (Sunday)                             10:00 – 17:00