Lingnan University and HKT join hands to promote smart elderly care services in HK

Lingnan University (LU) and HKT have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote gerontechnology in support of smart ageing and socialpreneurship development in Hong Kong.

 

The three-year “LU Jockey Club Gerontechnology and Smart Ageing Project”, funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, was commenced in 2019 with an aim to promote gerontechnology in society. The project has two featured programmes: LU Jockey Club Gerontech–X Lab (Gerontech–X Lab) and Social Enterprise Intelligent Hub (SEI Hub).

 

The 2000 sq.ft Gerontech–X Lab on LU campus showcases gerontech products catered to healthcare, dining, living and transport. HKT will work together with LU to further promote gerontechnology to the public by demonstrating a wide array of innovative gerontechnology solutions dedicated for elderly care centers, including solutions related to health monitoring, accident prevention and rehabilitation – all with the overall goal improving the quality of life and wellbeing of the elderly.

 

The SEI Hub is a cloud-based resources platform that connects different stakeholders in the society for resource sharing through e-collaboration and project coordination, and for the transfer of knowledge on smart living through the application of big data. As an SEI Hub partner, HKT will exchange knowledge with various stakeholders to encourage further exploration of gerontechnology and smart ageing, as well as providing consultancy services for the SEI Hub.

 

Prof Joshua Mok Ka-ho, Vice President of LU, said, “We are delighted to work with HKT to build a smart ageing city together. Our collaboration will truly improve the operations and services of elderly care centres and helps bring gerontechnology into daily lives of the elderly. We hope that innovative gerontech products will be able to satisfy the healthcare, dining, living and transport needs of the older adults.”

 

Mr Tom Chan, Managing Director, Commercial Group, HKT, said, “The latest population projections show that by 2034, about 30% of Hong Kong’s population will be aged 65 or above^*. Gerontechnology is the key to turning population ageing into innovative opportunities to improve the elderly’s quality of life and reduce the workload and burden on caregivers in care centres. We are glad to collaborate with Lingnan University to better serve the elderly community.”

 

Mr Chan added, "As a leading innovator in Hong Kong, HKT has the best-in-class fixed and mobile networks with superior Wi-Fi and 5G connectivity. Together with our strengths in system integration, we will continue to work with different gerontechnology partners to provide smart ageing solutions. We are committed to leveraging more emerging technologies such as cloud, robotics, AI, IoT and big data analytics to further accelerate smart city development.”

 

*Source: “Hong Kong Population Projections 2020 – 2069” by the Census and Statistics Department.