Singapore Management University (SMU) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are extending its partnership for its joint venture project, the SMU-TCS iCity Lab (iCity Lab), for another three years.
The joint venture is focused on research and development of intelligent city solutions. In the next three years the partners hope to undertake more research initiatives and projects, which include developing technology solutions specifically tailored to the needs of senior citizens in Singapore. The project will be undertaken under a research grant secured from the government.
The SHINESeniors (Smart Homes and Intelligent Neighbors to Enable Seniors) Project is an iCity Lab-initiated effort to make community care services effective through innovations in care delivery by leveraging Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
Sensor-enabled homes will be developed in support of ageing-in-place for senior citizens living in Singapore. Through SHINESeniors, it is hoped that the cost of care delivery will be lowered significantly given the lower reliance on manpower.
SMU-TCS iCity Lab will be also working with multiple stakeholders, including several government agencies and community partners, to implement the project over three years.
“Singapore faces major challenges in providing care and support for our senior citizens due to the fact that the number of post-retirement people aged 65 and older is increasing faster than that of the working population age of 20 to 64. From a demographic perspective, this means Singapore’s “old-age support ratio” is decreasing – for each senior citizen, there is a smaller number of working age people to provide social and economic support. This is the core challenge we are now concentrating on at the iCity Lab," Professor Steven Miller, Dean of School of Information Systems and Vice Provost (Research) at SMU said.