Senior Citizens & future Technology, April 2003

Club of Amsterdam

pdf version

Supporter
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Worldwide, the number of senior citizens is projected to more than double by 2030, from 420 million to 973 million. Almost 20% of European seniors now have Net access.
Older consumers are quite often very discriminating and quality- and price-conscious. They are active and enterprising. All together they own some 65% of the total private assets in The Netherlands. Approximately 40% of the consumptive spending will be for the account of senior citizens in 2010.

Part I: Keynotes by

Jan Thie, Physician, specialised in public health, KITTZ

&

Mili Docampo Rama, Senior Strategy Consultant, Philips Design

Part II: Panel with Keynote Speakers and
Elisabeth Weinberger, Coordinator of the Ambassadors Project of SeniorWeb,
Mei Li Vos, Politicologe, Infodrome @ United Knowledge,
Hugo de Bruin, HDB Interactive
and our Host Henrik Brameus, CEO, Benitel.
The panel is followed by an open discussion.

Jan Thie, Physician, specialised in public health, KITTZ: “In the near future, seniors will form the largest group of consumers in modern western countries. They will also be the largest consumer group for facilities related to well-being, housing, and care. Senior citizens wish to live in their own home for as long as possible. They want to stay in control over their own life and they wish to fully participate in society as independent citizens. How can technology facilitate them to achieve their goals? How can we connect products and services with the possibilities and needs of senior citizens? How can products and services stimulate and support their independence and social participation, instead of creating unnecessary barriers? Technology can play an important role in the solution of social problems. Technology can also provide useful, comfortable, convenient, and safe products. Technology can support to service delivery. Home automation (domotica), smart living, applications of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and design for all, are the main issues in this presentation.”

Mili Docampo Rama, Senior Strategy Consultant, Philips Design: “The presentation will be about Technology Generations. TG is about understanding the generational mind set of people when it comes to technology, which has shown to influence their attitude, behaviour and usage substantially. Research has shown that the formative period of each generations has a big impact in the way they relate with technology now and in the future. In the presentation, I will indicate the value of this knowledge for innovation, branding and marketing concept development and how it enables businesses (including marketing) to avoid stereotyping of their target groups and rejecting seniors as potential.”