One billion elderly people
A great opportunity for economic growth
Sergey Kolenov, Hi-tech+
The population of developed countries is aging rapidly, but society and governments are not yet ready for change. But they will be radical, warn the participants of the Disruption Summit, who met in London to discuss the problems of longevity.
The aging of society is often associated with problems in the economy, for example, a shortage of workers and funds to pay pensions, but experts see it as new opportunities for growth. For example, the increase in the number of elderly people has already led to a boom in companies working in the longevity industry. There are 170 such startups in the UK alone, according to The Financial Times (The lucrative business of living longer).
The British government has allocated 98 million rubles from the strategic investment fund to support such companies. The money should stimulate the development of new products and services that will help older people to fight loneliness, self-serve themselves and maintain health and independence. Applications for payments from the fund will begin to be accepted at the end of this year, and funding will last for two years.
Several ideas that could improve the quality of life of the elderly were presented at the summit. Among them are two startups from the UK – Casserole, a network for sharing products, and After Work Club – "Facebook" for older men. Perhaps soon elderly Britons will be able to use the "grandson for an hour" service provided by the Papa app. The system is already working in Florida.
Dmitry Kaminsky, managing partner of the venture fund Deep Knowledge Ventures, believes that a billion pensioners is an incredible opportunity for business growth. Kaminsky offered to pay a $1 million bonus to the first person to break the longevity record and reach the age of 123 years.
In addition, he called on governments to pay more attention to artificial intelligence in the field of medicine and the fight against aging. According to him, preventive personalized medicine can increase active life by an average of 10 years. However, the UK healthcare system is still focused on the treatment of chronic diseases and the work of hospices.
One of the ways to improve the quality of life of the elderly is to eliminate their technological illiteracy. As a result, they will be able, for example, to spend time playing specially designed video games or using voice assistants.
It will also revitalize the smart device market. Already today, the only sector in which smartphone sales continue to grow is people over the age of 45. Unfortunately, consumer research still often ignores older people.
According to Professor Andrew Scott, the current three-stage life, consisting of education, career and retirement, will become a thing of the past. It will be replaced by a more complex multi-stage model. According to him, we need to talk more about the opportunities and changes that the spread of longevity will bring.
Meanwhile, the elderly are fast becoming the most discriminated class of Britons. According to new research, millennials associate old age with illness and loneliness, and treat old people with prejudice. Given that the country's population is aging, experts are calling for a fight against ageism.
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