Promoting ICT innovations for the ageing population in Japan

Objective: The paper aims to explore effective measures and strategies for the promotion of ICT-enabled innovations for the elderly and people with special needs. Methods: The paper begins by reviewing current government initiatives in the field of e-health and accessibility that are addressing challenges faced by Japan's rapidly ageing society. It then evaluates the results of Japanese government efforts in the promotion of ICT solutions for its older population against the availability of special infrastructure, device interfaces, and services and applications that meet five essential needs of the elderly with regard to quality of life in highly developed countries. Results and conclusion: The results of the study suggest that more efforts are needed to exploit ICT to transform all domains of society in order to meet the challenges produced by a rapidly ageing population. For that purpose the paper proposes 12 main areas in which to facilitate ICT innovations for an ageing population. It then outlines a number of strategic directions for the formulation of specific measures that will place Japan in the forefront of societal transformation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.