Heads, Hands, and Hearts for Age-Tech
It’s no secret that 30% of Japan’s population is already aged 65+, representing 36 million consumers today, and rising. More importantly, Japanese older adults are financially solvent, open-minded to tech, and enjoy true quality of life (both physically and cognitively) for longer than their Western counterparts. The so-called “aging care” market (i.e., medical/pharmaceutical, caregiving and consumer products segments) will by 2025 be a 101.3 trillion yen (US$954 billion) industry – larger than for domestic automobiles, finance, and consumer electronics. That’s BIG.
Opening Video - Adapting to New Technologies
Adapting to New Technologies
Keren Etkin - Keynote Speaker
Keren Etkin is the best-selling author of The AgeTech Revolution – a book about the intersection of technology and aging. Etkin is the founder of TheGerontechnologist. com, a media platform that covers the global agetech ecosystem and The AgeTech Academy which offers online AgeTech education for entrepreneurs and elder care professionals. She’s also the founder/director of AgeLabIL at Shenkar college in Israel, an interdisciplinary R&D center focusing on AgeTech. Named one of the most influential people in aging, Etkin is a sought-after public speaker and advisor to AgeTech startups, investors in the longevity economy, care providers and organizations who work on innovation in aging. Previously, Etkin was the first employee at Intuition Robotics, maker of ElliQ, a pioneering social robot designed with and for older adults, and co-founder & VP of Product at Sensi.ai, a startup that developed the first artificial intelligence solution for remote care monitoring. She holds an M.A. in Gerontology and a B.Sc. in Life Sciences from Ben-Gurion University.
TheGerontechnologist™ was created by Keren Etkin, gerontologist, entrepreneur and author of The AgeTech Revolution – a book about the intersection of tech and aging.Keren started her career in community services for older adults, before transitioning into tech when she was recruited to Intuition Robotics as the company’s first employee and only gerontologist.
I was fortunate to be in a position that allowed me to research how older adults use technology, what they want to get out of it, and later, work on implementing those learnings in ElliQ.
During her time at IR, she realized there were many wonderful startups developing awesome products for older adults, so I created this website.
I like to think of myself as an “AgeTech evangelist”, shouting from the virtual rooftops how amazing this ecosystem is, how big the opportunity of the longevity economy is for entrepreneurs and investors, and telling anyone who’s willing to listen that we must include our elders in the design and development of technology.
Currently, Keren is the founder/director of AgeLabIL – an interdisciplinary R&D center at Shenkar college for design, engineering and art. She advises early stage AgeTech startups and elder care organizations looking to bring innovation into their organizations, she runs the AgeTech Academy and give keynotes about AgeTech. Her work has been featured on publications such as the American Society on Aging’s Generations Today journal and Next Avenue.Previously, Keren co-founded Sensi.Ai, which developed the first and only AI-based solution for remote care monitoring in the long term care industry.
If you want to follow Keren’s work, receive updates from this blog and industry news, subscribe for the AgeTech Digest using this link.You can also connect with Keren on LinkedIn, follow her on Twitter or subscribe to TheGerontechnologist™’s YouTube channel or podcast.
The AgeTech Revolution
Have you ever thought about what your life may be like as you grow older, and what technology will be available to you at that time?
In The AgeTech Revolution, Keren Etkin takes you on a journey to explore the changing face of aging in the 21st century, through the lens of the fast-paced digital transformation our society is going through. It goes into challenges of aging that are currently being tackled by technology – using the real-life stories of tech entrepreneurs and older adults. Etkin also provides a glimpse into the future, and what agetech could be like five, ten, fifteen years down the road.
We have a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to impact the experience of living as an older adult in this world, using technology. The AgeTech Revolution provides us with the data and perspective necessary to change our tech landscape and to create a world that is more inclusive and supportive of older adults.
“Keren Etkin is an authoritative figure in the AgeTech space, she provides readers with a fantastic overview of the topic, a fresh perspective on the global challenges brought on by demographic shift, and an optimistic outlook for the future”
Mary Furlong, Founder & CEO at Mary Furlong & Associates
“The Age Tech Revolution’ is a must-read for any entrepreneur or startup wanting to build a great or better product or service for older adults -Keren’s advice and guidance are practical, compelling, and wise.”
Jon Warner, CEO, Silver Moonshots, CA
“Keren Etkin has studied the aging and agetech industries from the inside. Her book introduces the multi-dimensional challenges of aging in the 21st century, as well as relevant opportunities to design and engineer tech products and services to tackle those challenges. This is an ideal moment in human history to be reading this book.”
Professor Sheizaf Refaeli, President, Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art
Check out the AgeTech Revolution written by Keren Etkin: https://theagetechrevolution.com
Check out The Gerontechnologist.com for the newest updates on the Age-Tech Market: https://thegerontechnologist.com
Email Keren Etkin at: keren@thegerontechnologist.com
Ken Mogi - Special Guest Speaker
Neuroscientist, broadcaster, and author of Awakening Your Ikigai and The Way of Nagomi and many other books covering popular science, criticism and self-help.
Check out Dr. Mogi’s Brain World Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhEq24QNZ-WyDf74yFQHVg
Check out Dr. Mogi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/kenmogi
Dominic Carter - Heads, Hands, and Hearts for Age-Tech
Representative Director & CEO of The Carter Group: Came to Japan from Australia in the late ’90s to launch the Japan business of a global research consultancy. In 2003, he started what is now The Carter Group, a diversified organisation serving the needs of international businesses looking to realise ambitious goals in the Japanese market. Over the last 25 years he has worked with some of the top brands in the world, fuelling their journeys to success through the expert application of consumer insights across cultural contexts to drive successful marketing strategy. Dominic is a frequent lecturer, guest speaker, trainer, consultant and commentator on all matters to do with consumer insights methodology, social mega-trends and the contemporary Japanese consumer.
The Carter Group – Japan Market Resource Network is a Tokyo-based research consultancy that for over 30 years has worked with international businesses in the Japanese market to align business strategy with user needs. Committed to enabling age-tech development that is authentically human centric, the company also serves as a catalyst for tech-enabled product and service development that contributes to creating an ageless society.
The Living Best professional community, a Japan-based, international-focused group of business, academia and government professionals realizing the vision of a tech-enabled ageless society.
Living Best community members gain access to news and resources, as well as invitation-only events and bespoke introductions. Through Living Best, we at The Carter Group – Japan Market Resource Network embark with you on the journey of creating an ageless future in Japan and around the world. We hope you will join us!
Check out Dominic Carter’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominiccarterjapan/
Tiziana Alamprese - La Camera della Felicita
Neuroscientist, broadcaster, and author of Awakening Your Ikigai and The Way of Nagomi and many other books covering popular science, criticism and self-help.
Check out Dr. Mogi’s Brain World Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhEq24QNZ-WyDf74yFQHVg
Check out Dr. Mogi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/kenmogi
Kyoko Suzuki - Vitality Swiss / John Klepper - Pipra
Joined the Science and Technology Office Tokyo, Embassy of Switzerland in Japan in 2008. She started her career at a bank then moved to the US where she covered the financial markets for a Japanese newswire company. Moving back to Tokyo, she covered the technology industry for a US newswire agency before joining the Embassy.
Co-Funder & CEO of PIPRA. John Klepper is a serial entrepreneur with 17 years experience founding and growing technology-based companies. He has had several board mandates and is experienced in lean startup, operational management, structuring, strategic planning and capital raising. One successful exit so far and two other ventures in various stages of growth.
On the road to EXPO 2025 Osaka-Kansai, the Vitality.Swiss program explores solutions and scenarios for a vitalized future along three themes: Healthy Life, Sustainable Planet and Human-centered Innovation. Through a variety of events and content, the program provides a platform for dialogue and co-creation on the road to the Swiss pavilion at Expo 2025. An initiative of the Embassy of Switzerland in Japan together with the Consulate of Switzerland in Osaka / Swissnex in Japan, the Science and Technology Office Tokyo, the Swiss Business Hub Japan, Switzerland Tourism Japan, and Presence Switzerland, Vitality.Swiss is officially registered as a Team Expo co-creation partner.
PIPRA AG (short for Pre-Interventional Preventive Risk Assessment) has developed a CE certified cutting-edge AI-based pre-operative test to assess patient’s risk of suffering from cognitive disorders after a surgery.
Opening Video - Fears, What Can Developers Do?
Chairman, The Carter Group-Japan Market Resource Network: Has helped major brands leverage in Japan for over 35 years. Inspired by her personal experience with caregiving for her Mom, she is a two-time author who advises both individuals and companies on navigating the caregiving crisis in our world (The Caregiving Journey: Information. Guidance. Inspiration. and The Caregiving Crisis: What It Costs Your Business and How to Fix It). She also co-hosts two popular weekly Rethinking Aging Clubhouse shows related to aging, age-tech and onward to caregiving: Age- Friendly Product Alliance (co-hosted by AARP’s Age-tech Innovation Labs) and News for the Ages. She served as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) in 2004 and 2005, Chairman in 2006 and 2007, and continues to serve as ACCJ President Emeritus.
Live Panel - Japan's Age-Tech Ecosystem
With a 30 year background in strategic planning on both the agency and client sides. Moderated workshops and focus groups for product categories ranging from household products to Age-Tech. Her calm and understated manner helps encourage respondents to open up and give real insights.
Director, Department of International Affairs, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).
The focus of his 20-year career at JST has been promoting international cooperation, including: matched-fund bilateral and multilateral joint research for innovative scientific breakthroughs (SICORP program); joint research with like- minded funders from both North and South to drive sustainable development (SATREPS and e-ASIA programs).
https://www.jst.go.jp/EN/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/osamu-kobayashi-3a362547/
He has won the Prizes for Science and Technology, The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education,Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2009. His scientific output includes over 400 peer reviewed papers and 300 books. His scientific interest is in functional brain mapping of higher cognitive functions of humans. He also has been paying his attention to return benefits of basic sciences to public, so that he has proposed systems for improvement of the cognitive functions of humans by industry-university cooperation.
https://www.idac.tohoku.ac.jp/kawashima_site/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOyOVUUbOlt9j05On5LCMNg/videos
After receiving M.D., she received M.Sc.degree in Public Health Nutrition at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, UK. She received her Ph.D. in Internal Medicine, from the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo.
She has engaged as a Project Assistant Professor at the Clinical Research Center, concurrent position at Medical Innovation Initiative, the University of Tokyo and a specialist physician at the Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, the University of Tokyo Hospital. She started the precision health project through utilizing digital health from 2016, and in current position since 2018 with the support from the University of Tokyo Center of Innovation (COI). Since 2021, she is Chief Medical Officer of the MEDMIRAI, a startup company funded by The University of Tokyo IPC, which aims to accelerate research results into health care and medical services.
https://www.medmirai.co.jp/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/akiko-svensson-a31b8822/
Executive Vice President, Representative Director, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR), and President CEO, XBorder Innovations, Inc. (XBI).
Conducted and super- vised basic, applied and commercialization R&D at NTT, and then moved to ATR for corporate management and planning as well as business developments at ATR and ATR Group. Leading the establishment of a global innovation ecosys- tem in Keihanna Science City and launched XBI in 2021 to further strengthen startup support activities.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiroyuki-suzuki-9b0353133/
https://www.atr.jp/index_e.html
He has expertise in strategy development and innovation in healthcare sector, and has served a variety of clients, including private sectors (pharma, med-tech, health IT, insurance etc.), government, hospitals, and long-term care services. He has extensive knowledge in age- tech and has been an international judge for Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards, hosted by Ageing Asia. He has also strong understanding in global health having had professional work experience in Europe and US. Takeshi holds MBA and Master of Public Health both from University of California, Berkeley, and was a part-time lecturer at University of Hyogo MBA (Healthcare Management). He has also been an international speaker in a variety of occasions, including Nikkei Super Active Ageing Summit in 2020. He is a co- author of a book “healthcare innovation strategy for future.”
Featured Age-Tech Company Video Showcase
There is much focus in the world on age-tech products and services, and as we’ve seen in Part One, the depth and breadth of age-tech products and services is very wide-ranging … and is as varied as life itself. These include both individualized needs (such as memories with La Camera della Felicita and business-facing – or B2B – needs (such as Swiss start-up PIPRA).
Next, we’d like to show you FIVE MORE examples of companies that are bringing age-tech into a reality in our world. Some focus more on cognitive assessment and prevention, while others focus more on sociability and reduction of loneliness and isolation. Still others seek to create more age-friendly physical environments that enable independent living for as long as practically possible. But all seek to improve the overall life experience and happiness of aging individuals through the creation of safer, more age-friendly environments. These age-tech developments are happening all over the world – RIGHT NOW. Our aim is to help super-charge the JAPAN ecosystem for domestic start-ups and ALSO for in-bound foreign start-ups.
Our first showcase company is a project of the University of Toronto, Canada … and offers a way forward with early detection of dementia.
We formed in 2015 as a group of award-winning experts in memory, neuroscience, and digital health who were passionate about applying advances in basic science to create practical solutions to combat memory loss.
We spent years developing and validating HippoCamera and are excited to share our effective and evidence-based solution with anyone who wants to better remember the events of their lives.
Our next showcase company is a Japan-based online communications offering that helps aging Japanese to communicate with people of all ages from around the world … thereby helping to expand social interaction and reduce social isolation.
Paving the way for a vibrant and harmonious future
To make this vision a reality, we need to acknowledge and respect each others’ differences. At Helte, we are convinced that a platform for learning about others and transcending differences in nationality, age, language, and culture will become a bridge to solving these problems. This is the starting point for a future where a vibrant, unified society is the norm.
Our next showcase company is an Israel-headquartered company that is perfecting … how artificial intelligence can help aging adults with social communications … and onward to monitoring and companionship.
We’re on a mission to empower older adults to live happier, healthier and independent lives at home with an empathetic digital companion.
And our fourth showcase company is US-based Toyota Research Institute, which is pioneering the development of in-home robotics that help make home environments more age-friendly through monitoring, communications … and importantly, with actual robotics assistance with daily living tasks, which ensures that aging adults can live independently for as long as practically possible.
VISION
TRI envisions a future where Toyota products, enable by TRI technology, dramatically improve quality of life for individuals and society.
MISSION
To achieve its Vision, TRI’s Mission is to create new tools and capabilities focused on improving the human condition through research in energy & materials, robotics, machine learning, human-centered AI, and human interactive driving.
Live Showcase Company - CareMates
President & COO, Pasona N A, Inc: After obtaining his MBA, Kenji joined Pasona N A (a US subsidiary of Pasona Group). As a sales representative, he provided staffing services to Japanese companies in the US; mainly in New York, but also throughout the East Coast regions. He was also involved in launching the outsourcing business for general administrative departments (i.e., HR, accounting, and payroll management). In 2013, he was appointed to his current position as President and COO. With 10 branches throughout the US, Kenji strives to provide comprehensive and prompt support in global HR strategies to Japanese companies. In addition to providing HR services, he also conducts seminars/webinars on a variety of topics based on the latest trends and according to each location. Furthermore, as a contribution to the local community, we actively hold networking events for Japanese companies to provide and share basic information regarding business establishment in the US.
After receiving M.D., she received M.Sc.degree in Public Health Nutrition at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, UK. She received her Ph.D. in Internal Medicine, from the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo.
She has engaged as a Project Assistant Professor at the Clinical Research Center, concurrent position at Medical Innovation Initiative, the University of Tokyo and a specialist physician at the Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases, the University of Tokyo Hospital. She started the precision health project through utilizing digital health from 2016, and in current position since 2018 with the support from the University of Tokyo Center of Innovation (COI). Since 2021, she is Chief Medical Officer of the MEDMIRAI, a startup company funded by The University of Tokyo IPC, which aims to accelerate research results into health care and medical services.
https://www.medmirai.co.jp/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/akiko-svensson-a31b8822/