Technology, Aging & Longevity Event Round Up 2021.

For a second year, as a supplement to last week’s Aging & Longevity, Conference Round Up 2021, here is a short listing of events – conferences, innovation forums and pitch presentations related to technology, aging and longevity. Technology and its intersection with the field of aging and longevity (otherwise known as gerontechnology), has many diverse purposes related to the health, social well-being and longevity of older adults throughout their life course.   

Gerontechnology is the interdisciplinary field that grew from the mid-1980s when, as Jan A.M. Graafmans, originator of that term said that supportive technologies in aging are designed to:

“…create a better quality of living environment for aging and aged people, supporting them to live an independent life of their own choice and for as long as possible.” 

Now, 30-plus years later in a pandemic world and technologies supportive of health and well-being as we age have accelerated rapidly, most visibly in the area of tele-health or virtual care.   

Organizations such as Stanford Center on Longevity, with their annual Design Challenge in the USA, AGE-WELL, Canada’s Technology & Aging Network and Aging 2.0, an international, interdisciplinary and intergenerational network of chapters in over 100 cities globally, exemplify this evolution. So here’s what’s up so far in 2021.

CABHI Summit 2021: Accelerating Innovation + Amplifying Impact March 24-25 Virtual

At this year’s 2-day event, which I signed up for, the Centre for Aging & Brian Health Innovation (CABHI) will announce the launch of its new global community platform for older adults and their care partners in the innovation community. In addition, CABHI will hold their global pitch presentation with a special note that they are looking to develop solutions for aging in place and congregate care settings as they evolve in a COVID world.

Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge Awards Event

April 2021 (Date, TBA)            Virtual – Stanford University, California

Theme: “After the Pandemic: Designing the Next Version of Our World”.

While it may be premature to suggest we are in a post-pandemic world, we can be safe to say that designing technologies needs to happen even while we are still in the thick of it. As the Design Challenge goals state: we are challenging students to design solutions affect people throughout the life span, and how they can be designed in ways that are accessible to all.

Names of finalists will be announced by mid-January and, as usual for the past eight years, I will be writing more posts on the outcomes of this event, which sees the finals in April.

International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Ageing Well and e-Health

April 24-26                               Virtual

Themes: Aging Well (Social & Human Sciences Perspective), Ambient Intelligence & independent Living and Tele-medicine & E-Health. Click on that link and you will be amazed at the level of detail on these topics. This is a truly wide-ranging offering of speakers with an international squad of program committee members.

Human Aspects, IT for the Aged Population: ITAP 7th Annual Conference

July 24-29                               Virtual – Washington DC

A segment of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), which I discovered last year. HCI International conferences have a number of technology themed events. This one, ITAP, covers a diverse range of sub-themes under ten categories for older people, including Health, Social Inclusion & Connectedness, Home & Housing, E-Commerce & Finance and Work.

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