By George W. Arnold, Chair IEEE AgeTech Initiative

Aging adults represent a rapidly growing segment of the global population. Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of people aged 60 and older is projected to nearly double—from 12% to 22% of the world’s population.

Technology designed to enhance the quality of life, well-being, and longevity of older adults and people with accessibility needs—collectively referred to here as AgeTech—is a rapidly expanding market that has attracted significant investment, research, and product development.

AgeTech products and services include wearable devices and non-contact sensors for health and wellness monitoring; intelligent home solutions that facilitate aging in place; cognitive support and automation for caregiving; and wearable robotics that assist with mobility and rehabilitation, among others. AgeTech is not a single technology, but rather an application area that leverages a wide range of technologies spanning many of IEEE’s technical fields of interest. These include signal processing, sensors, computing, communications, robotics, microwaves, artificial intelligence, medicine and biology, and more. AgeTech applications also raise important societal concerns, including data privacy, security, trust, and digital literacy.

The AgeTech ecosystem is still in the early stages of development. Despite significant technological advances, substantial barriers limit the adoption and effectiveness of these solutions. Practitioners cite challenges such as usability and human factors, lack of interoperability, absence of standardized test methods, safety and security concerns, insufficient accessibility-aware design, and low digital literacy.

These are all areas where IEEE is well positioned to contribute. The IEEE AgeTech activity began in late 2024 under the auspices of the IEEE Standards Association (SA) Industry Connections program. The initial focus was on identifying new standards to promote more effective AgeTech product solutions. The first major outcome of this effort was a proposal for an IEEE standard addressing an urgent market need: a measurement standard for fall detection devices. As a result, a new SA standards working group—P3925 Standard for Evaluation of Wearable Fall Detection Devices—has been formed to develop this standard.

During 2025, it became clear that there was a much broader opportunity for IEEE to contribute by leveraging its full range of capabilities and resources. Beginning in 2026, IEEE AgeTech transitioned into an IEEE-wide Future Directions Initiative with an expanded scope.

IEEE’s mission is to advance technology for the benefit of humanity. The IEEE AgeTech Initiative seeks to fulfill this mission for the growing and critically important aging segment of society. The initiative brings together a community of IEEE volunteers from across IEEE operating units, societies, and councils, and is working to:

1. Develop a technical roadmap for AgeTech application areas by analyzing the current state of the art and prioritizing needs for research, technology innovation, and standardization.
2. Conduct workshops and seminars to support development of the roadmap.
3. Create an online AgeTech Resource Hub (ARCH) to provide information, guidelines, and tools that promote aging-friendly design and digital literacy.
4. Organize Innovation Challenges, including aging-related data set submissions for AgeTech product design and AI training, as well as pitch competitions to stimulate innovative AgeTech solutions.
5. Establish a community of IEEE volunteers who are AgeTech users (such as Life Members) to serve as a resource for industry through product testing and focus groups.

Work on the IEEE AgeTech roadmap is currently organized into subcommittees focused on four initial application domains: Healthcare Wearable Devices, Intelligent Home Solutions, Caregiving Robotics, and Wearable Robotics. Volunteers interested in these areas are encouraged to join and contribute to the workshops and roadmap development. Efforts related to the online resource hub (ARCH) are led by an Education Committee, which provides another opportunity for volunteer participation. The Innovation Challenges Committee, in collaboration with IEEE Young Professionals, is organizing data challenges and pitch competitions. In addition, the initiative is seeking volunteers interested in helping establish and participate in an IEEE AgeTech Tester Network.

Collaboration extends well beyond IEEE itself, with active engagement involving universities, start-ups, established companies, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and other external partners to create lasting global impact.

Signal processing—and the ability to capture, analyze, and act on data—is at the core of nearly every AgeTech application. This presents an important, exciting, and rewarding opportunity for members of the IEEE Signal Processing Society to contribute to advancing IEEE’s mission.

Please visit the IEEE AgeTech Initiative web site (agetech.ieee.org) to learn more about the initiative, sign up for our mailing list, and most importantly, volunteer to contribute to one of our committees.