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Majority of survey respondents agreed that there has been testing support indicates the Government’s desire to elevate the
an improvement in people’s awareness of gerontech, given it local industry’s know-how of conducting product testing.
is the only gap that scored above 1. When we wrote our first
report, there was little discussion on how technology could Our survey also indicated improvement with gerontech-affiliated
alleviate population ageing issues. People usually thought applied research funding, which received a score of 0.53. When Introduction
about caregiver and doctor shortage, or bed shortages in we published our first report, the Innovation and Technology
nursing homes and hospitals (OHKF, 2017, June). Yet, many Bureau’s (ITB) Fund for Better Living had just launched. As
initiatives have since helped increase awareness. For example, of September 2021, the Fund for Better Living had approved
GIES consistently attracts tens of thousands of participants funding for a total of 35 projects, of which 17 are projects that
and showcases hundreds of innovative products from local and benefit elderly or PwDs, totalling to about HKD 61 million of
international exhibitors (GIES, 2021). Many organisations also gerontech-affiliated applied research funding in four years.
started hosting gerontech roadshow events, which have taken Examples of approved gerontech-related projects include smart
place in 10 of the 18 districts, as well as setting up gerontech homes, VR systems, intelligent health and care management
showrooms, of which there are currently five. We will further systems, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based stroke rehabilitation
discuss this topic in Chapter 3. (Innovation and Technology Fund for Better Living Approved
Projects, 2021). In the 2021 Policy Address, the Chief Executive
According to our survey, another gap with notable improvement announced the Government’s plan to leverage Hong Kong’s
is the Government’s risk-averse attitude, which obtained strength in life and health sciences research to set up an InnoLife
a score of 0.66. Our first report indicated that Government Healthtech Hub in the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and
facilities preferred to implement mature, foreign gerontech Technology Park in the Loop (LegCo Policy Address, 2021,
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rather than new or local products, due to a lack of evidence October 6). We hope this initiative can further help raise funds
on product effectiveness; yet the Government failed to provide and technical know-how of gerontech-related research.
product testing support, resulting in a vicious cycle (OHKF, 2017,
June). However, several newer initiatives demonstrate that the The survey also revealed that three gaps actually worsened.
Government is less risk averse with gerontech. The large sum The first relates to insufficient retirement protection, which
associated with the $1 billion I&T Fund shows the Government’s obtained a score of -0.05. This gap refers to how Hong Kong’s
desire for local service units to try different gerontech products. existing retirement protection system—inclusive of social
The Government’s continuous support of GIES also shows security allowances, voucher schemes, and pension initiatives—
their commitment to provide a large-scale platform for new is insufficient for providing elderly with support for retirement
products to gain traction among local consumers. Furthermore, living; we will discuss how to improve this issue in Section 2.2.
the Gerontechnology Platform’s (GT Platform) specific focus on The second relates to systemic issues with academia, which
obtained a score of -0.06. This gap refers to how university

11 AgeTech, a synonym for gerontech in US and European markets, is considered as an emerging subset of the HealthTech sector (Advanced Development Technology Center, 2021)
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