Technological Innovations for Health and Wealth for an Ageing Global Population

The document examines how the Fourth Industrial Revolution's technologies—including wearables, AI, and robotics—can address the challenges of an ageing global population. It specifically focuses on the role of financial services, such as banking and insurance, in leveraging these innovations to protect older adults from cognitive decline and financial fraud while promoting physical and mental well-being.

• Global demographic shifts are leading to a significant increase in the older population; the number of people aged 60 or more is projected to grow from 900 million in 2015 to 2 billion by 2050, representing an increase from 12% to 22% of the global population.
• While chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are stabilizing, there is a rapid increase in musculoskeletal disorders and poor mental health, which often results in older adults living their later years with debilitating disabilities.
• Technological innovations for healthy ageing are categorized into three focus areas: social connectivity and emotional health (promoting mental well-being and purpose), cognitive ability (targeting memory and medication adherence), and physical ability (ensuring mobility and preventing falls).
• Financial services institutions can utilize technology to protect older adults from financial fraud, which is estimated to cost between $3 billion and $30 billion annually worldwide. Examples include banking algorithms that detect suspicious transactions and biometric payment systems.
• Insurance companies are shifting toward individualized risk assessment by using wearable tracking devices to monitor policyholder behavior, which allows for the adjustment of premiums based on healthy activities.
• The document emphasizes that while technology can improve quality of life, it cannot replace human social interaction, and its success depends on the creation of robust regulatory frameworks to manage data privacy and security.

APA

World Economic Forum (2016). Technological Innovations for Health and Wealth for an Ageing Global Population. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Population_Ageing_Technological_Innovations_Health_Wealth_070916.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Technological Innovations for Health and Wealth for an Ageing Global Population. 2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Population_Ageing_Technological_Innovations_Health_Wealth_070916.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Technological Innovations for Health and Wealth for an Ageing Global Population |date=2016 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Population_Ageing_Technological_Innovations_Health_Wealth_070916.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2016technological, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Technological Innovations for Health and Wealth for an Ageing Global Population}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2016}, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Population_Ageing_Technological_Innovations_Health_Wealth_070916.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }