What is Agetech? Introducing types and specific services

Agetech's global market scale is 300 trillion yen! Focus Areas

What is Age Tech? For those who want to know a comprehensive knowledge about AgeTech, we will introduce the overview of AgeTech, the market size, the background of market expansion, service examples, and future issues.

For those who are considering starting a business in the future, the expanding market of Age Tech is a recommended business area. In addition, the content is designed to provide hints for considering new services for current managers and those involved in corporate planning, so please take a look to the end.

*In the "Founding Techo" where I am writing this article, more detailed information is also explained in the thick "Founding Techo / Printed Edition". You can get it for free, so please order it.

Contents of this article

  • Types of Age-Tech Services
  • 5 Examples of Age-Tech Services
  • Challenges in Penetrating Age-Tech
  • Summary
  • Age What is Tech? Tech services for the elderly

    Simply put, age tech is technology and services that use technology that are made for the elderly.

    Of course, the background of age tech is the aging of society. In Japan, where the population is aging at the fastest rate in the world, it is easy to imagine that the age-tech market will expand ahead of other developed countries.

    There are various forms of age tech, and there are a wide variety of fields, from services in the medical and nursing care fields to things like SNS services to eliminate the loneliness of the elderly. increase.

    An aging society is an urgent issue for Japan as well. Therefore, in the future, there is a possibility that support such as subsidies and grants from the national and local governments to support age tech will increase.

    Market size and background of the agetech market

    According to the estimate in the Forbes article, the agetech market will swell to US$2.7 trillion by 2025. . Since it is 2.7 trillion US dollars, when converted to Japanese yen, the global market size is close to 300 trillion yen. It is also estimated that the global AgeTech market will continue to expand at a rate of 21% annually.

    Of course, aging is behind the spread of age-tech, but the following issues that occur with aging are accelerating the expansion of the age-tech market.

    As the aging population increases, medical costs borne by governments continue to increase worldwide. In countries like Japan with public medical insurance, the government's medical expenses are also increasing, which is becoming an issue. As a solution for cost reduction, AgeTech can be an option.

    In addition, not only in Japan, but also in most developed countries, the declining birth rate is progressing along with the aging population. Therefore, the shortage of caregivers has become a global problem, and there is a need for a solution by AgeTech in this respect as well.

    Current Situation in Japan

    According to the Cabinet Office, in 2019, 28.4% of Japan's total population was over the age of 65. It can be said that about one in three people is an elderly person. And this ratio will continue to rise, and is estimated to reach 38.4% in 2065.

    In 1960, 12.1 people in the working generation supported one elderly person in 2015. Currently, 2.3 people of the working generation support one elderly person. Furthermore, it is estimated that by 2065, 1.3 working-age people will support one elderly person.

    In addition, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, it is estimated that the gap between supply and demand for nursing care workers will reach 377,000 as of 2025, and the shortage of nursing care workers is also a serious social issue.

    From the above estimates, we can see that the declining birthrate and aging population will continue to progress. It is also conjectured that medical expenses will increase in proportion to the declining birthrate and aging population. Therefore, it can be said that there is a high social demand for age-tech to solve these problems.

    According to Mizuho Bank's Industry Research Department, the market size of the market for the elderly will reach 101.3 trillion yen by 2025, and is expected to drive domestic demand. Although it is not a direct estimate of the size of the domestic age-tech market, we can predict that the size of the domestic age-tech market will also expand in proportion.

    Current situation overseas

    According to the 2016 White Paper on Health, Labor and Welfare, the aging rate in the United States, which was 14.8% in 2015, will continue to gradually increase to 23.5% in 2060. I have a trial calculation.

    Of course, aging is progressing not only in Japan and the United States, but also in other advanced European countries. In France, the aging rate was 19.1% in 2015, but it will be 26.4% in 2060. In Germany, it was 21.2% in 2015, but it will be 33.1% in 2060. In the UK, it will be 17.8% in 2015. It is estimated that the aging rate will rise to 26% by 2060.

    What is Age Tech? Types and specifics

    In this way, it is predicted that not only Japan but also the advanced countries of Europe and the United States will be aging across the board. It is easy to infer that medical expenses for the elderly will increase in proportion to this. According to the U.S. government, spending in the U.S. healthcare industry accounted for 17.7% of GDP in 2019. This percentage will continue to rise as the birthrate declines and the population ages.

    In America, where entrepreneurship is thriving, the age-tech industry has already become huge, and not only age-tech ventures, but also venture capitals and funds specializing in age-tech are being established one after another.

    In France as well, the government has established a non-profit organization called "Silver Valley" that collaborates with industry, government and academia to encourage the creation of age-tech ventures, and you can see the seriousness of the country.

    Types of Age-Tech Services

    As the size of the global market for Age-Tech is nearly 300 trillion yen, the types of Age-Tech services are truly diverse. Age-tech services are being developed in all fields related to the elderly, not just services that solve the problems faced by the elderly.

    Therefore, I would like to introduce the types of age-tech services that are roughly classified into four types.

    Services used by the elderly themselves

    The easiest thing to imagine is the age-tech services used by the elderly themselves. The service is as follows.

    There are many other services available. There are many services that mainly solve the problems caused by the decline in physical ability of the elderly. Since the challenges faced by the elderly are wide-ranging, there are many needs, and new age-tech services are likely to emerge.

    Services used by companies and governments for the elderly

    Agetech also includes services that companies and governments use to support the elderly, rather than being used by the elderly themselves. Included in Agetech services used by companies and governments include the following services.

    Even if it is a service used by companies and governments, there are many services used by medical and nursing facilities as a genre. As the number of elderly people increases, the demand for DX in medical and nursing care facilities will also increase, so the demand for age-tech in the medical and nursing care fields will inevitably increase. Due to the shortage of doctors and caregivers, services in this field will continue to increase in the future.

    Services used by individuals for the elderly

    The next step is to provide age-tech services that are not used by the elderly for themselves, but are used by other individuals for the elderly. Introducing.

    In this genre, services are being developed to support elderly people who are parents, such as the children and grandchildren of the elderly, and to communicate with the elderly. It is a genre that is likely to increase services depending on ideas. As society digitizes and the digital native generation ages, the variety of services that will be deployed will likely increase.

    Services used by young people as they grow older

    Finally, there are services that individuals who are currently young will use as they age. The following services are deployed.

    As today's young people, who are familiar with digital tools on a daily basis, are getting older, it is expected that the demand for health management that utilizes more digital technology will increase. Along with that, age-tech services for health management will also increase.

    Five examples of age-tech services

    I have explained the types of age-tech services, but here are five examples of specific services. Each service has its own characteristics, so be sure to check them out.

    "Koroyawa" to prevent injuries when falling

    "Koroyawa" provided by Magic Shields Co., Ltd. is a floor that becomes soft only when you fall.

    There are a lot of falling accidents among the elderly, and many of them fall and get broken bones. People with dementia and delirium are at particularly high risk of falling, and have been introduced in hospitals, medical facilities, and nursing homes where there are many such people.

    There is a mat type and an installation type, and it is also attractive that you can use it according to the usage scene.

    From the perspective of medical and nursing care facilities, it is possible to reduce risks and costs, and for the elderly, it is possible to reduce the risk of fractures due to falls. It can be said that it is a distinctive service suitable for a representative example of age tech service.

    Wandering Prevention System "LYKAON"

    Introducing the "Face Recognition Wandering Prevention System LYKAON" provided by Carebot Inc.

    LYKAON is a service that can detect with a face recognition system if a person registered in the database in advance is wandering around. When a person registered with the camera is detected, it will be notified by a detection alert, and a notification can be received with a dedicated smartphone app, so caregivers can communicate with each other and stop the care recipient from wandering.

    By introducing LYKAON to nursing homes, you can reduce both the risks and costs of facility management. Even from the perspective of the families who leave their caregivers at facilities, having LYKAON installed would make them feel more at ease.

    Excretion prediction device "DFREE"

    Introducing the excretion prediction device "DFree" provided by Triple W Japan Co., Ltd.

    DFree monitors the amount of urine in your bladder in real time. The app notifies you before and after you urinate, so it helps elderly people who don't know when to urinate to know when to urinate.

    In addition, if it is introduced in nursing care facilities, etc., it will be useful for reducing nursing care costs and improving productivity because the application will let elderly people who need nursing care know when to excrete. You can also keep a record of excretion care, so you can check the excretion situation later.

    "Mago Channel" to prevent loneliness of the elderly

    Introducing the "Mago Channel" provided by Chikaku Co., Ltd.

    Mago Channel, as the name suggests, is a service that allows grandparents to easily watch the video on TV by sending the video of their grandchildren through the app. The point is that even elderly people who do not know how to use digital tools can easily use them.

    This is a unique age-tech service that can be used as a communication tool for three generations of parents and children, and also helps relieve the loneliness of the elderly generation.

    Online disease management "YaDoc"

    Introducing the online disease management system "YaDoc" provided by Integrity Healthcare Co., Ltd.

    YaDoc is an online disease management system that can be easily implemented from reservation to payment. You can check patient information and images in advance, so you can start treatment smoothly online. Video calls can also be carried out with stable video quality. You can also continuously enter and monitor patient information and conduct online medical interviews.

    YaDoc can be said to be a tool that has comprehensive functions necessary for online medical services. The point that the price is very cheap is also attractive.

    Challenges in penetration of age-tech

    The biggest challenge in penetrating the market for age-tech is whether or not the elderly can master digital tools. No matter how much attention is paid to UX, the service must not only be easy to use, but also have an image that makes people want to use it.

    In addition, when introducing it in medical and nursing care facilities, it is necessary for the service provider to understand the service, not the elderly, in order to make full use of the service. Agetech service providers will also need to educate and enlighten users.

    Either way, "ease of use" becomes an issue. Services that overcome ease-of-use issues and gain greater support from users will prevail over the competition and become widespread.

    Summary

    Age-tech refers to technology and services that use technology to support problem solving for the elderly.

    The age-tech market is expanding rapidly against the background of the declining birthrate and aging population in developed countries, and it is predicted that this trend will continue to accelerate in the future.

    Because of its social significance, it is a business area that can be recommended for those who are about to start a business or who are thinking about starting a new business. Please explore business opportunities in the age-tech area.

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