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From Gerontech Report 1.0 to 2.0

Gerontechnology and its importance 1

In 2017, Our Hong Kong Foundation (OHKF) partnered with
the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) to publish
Hong Kong’s first ever gerontechnology report (hereinafter
referred to as “Gerontech Landscape Report 1.0”), titled
Gerontechnology Landscape Report (OHKF, 2017, June). The
report was commissioned by the Government’s Social Innovation
and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund) with the
purpose of exploring Hong Kong’s existing gerontech ecosystem
and landscape at the time.
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, gerontech has become increasingly important to
Hong Kong. In addition to our growing ageing population, we
also have the longest average life expectancy in the world—
82.9 years for males and 88.0 years for females as of 2020
(Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), 2021, September
10). As such, there is an urgent need to think about how to
transform Hong Kong into an age-enabling city that emphasises
2
a culture of healthy ageing. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), an age-enabling city includes nine
elements, including “Technology and Innovation”—which is where
gerontech fits in (Figure 1) (WHO, 2015).

1
Gerontechnology is an interdisciplinary field that brings together gerontology, the
scientific study of ageing, and technology, the development and distribution of technology
(Fozard, Rietsema, Bouma, Graafsmans, 2000). The objective is to prevent, delay, or
compensate for cognitive and physical decline that occurs during ageing and curate
technological environments for older adults spanning across health, housing, mobility,
communication, leisure, and work domains (García-Alonso & César Fonseca, 2019).
2 According to the World Health Organization (2021), healthy ageing refers to “the
process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in
older age”.
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