Press Release

HKHS Gerontech Competition Attract Nearly 700 Students to
Apply Creativity and Technology Helping the Seniors Ageing in Place

The Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) organised the Gerontech Competition (Competition) for the second year, with the award presentation ceremony successfully concluded today (29 June).  To cope with the challenges brought by the ageing population in Hong Kong, gerontechnology has been applied to enhance the elderly's quality of life and it helps promote ageing-in-place.  The Competition encourages the young people to unleash their creativity and make use of their knowledge on gerontology to design products attuned to the needs of the seniors, in order to promote the application of gerontechnology and an age-friendly community.

Nearly 700 students from some 160 teams participated in the two categories of "Secondary School Student" and "Tertiary Student", competing for the Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards, and also the Best Creativity Award, the Best Application Award, the Best Presentation Skills Award and the Most Popular Award which was returned by public voting.  The winning designs will be showcased in the Metaverse http://hsgerontech-exhibition.com.

HKHS Vice-Chairman Ling Kar-kan said, "Seeing the population ageing, the Housing Society being a 'housing laboratory' pioneered elderly housing and related services 20 years ago.  We are dedicated to promoting ageing-in-place and building an inclusive community with intergenerational harmony.  It is our great pleasure to see the encouraging responses of students who have combined technology and creativity to produce a variety of thoughtful and practical age-friendly products, which give new inspiration to the gerontechnology industry."

As this year marks the 25^th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR, Ling Kar-kan added that the Housing Society took the activity as an opportunity to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Hong Kong’s handover with all participating guests and young people, making a wish for a harmonious and inclusive community.  HKHS looks forward to more collaboration with other organisations to open up opportunities for the youth to develop their talents, hence contributing to the sustainable development of Hong Kong.

During the course of the Competition, HKHS offered a series of online and offline learning opportunities for the participating students through workshops, experts sharing as well as visits, to enhance their understanding of gerontechnology and the needs of the elderly.  The judging panels of the Competition are formed by representatives from HKHS and the 12 partnering organisations, including Association of IT Leaders in Education; City University of Hong Kong – CityU Apps Lab; Hong Kong Education City Limited; Senior Citizen Home Safety Association; The Chinese University of Hong Kong – School of Continuing and Professional Studies; The Chinese University of Hong Kong – The Nethersole School of Nursing of Faculty of Medicine; The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong – Department of Computing; The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – The Institute of Active Ageing; The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology – Centre for Engineering Education Innovation; The University of Hong Kong – Sau Po Centre on Ageing; Tung Wah College and Vocational Training Council – Innovation and Technology Co-creation Centre.  The winning teams are selected based on the judging criteria, including the relevance to the theme, practicality, creativity as well as the teams’ presentation skills.  The results of the Competition are as follows:

The Gold, Silver and Bronze winning teams in each category received prizes of HK$15,000, HK$10,000 and HK$8,000 respectively.  The Gold winners would also be offered an overseas exchange opportunity.  The winning teams of the Best Creativity Award, Best Application Award and Most Popular Award were presented with a prize of $5,000 each; and the winning teams of the Best Presentation Skills Award and Merits presented with a prize of $2,000 each.