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Good practice Imported

Hong Kong's Innovation and Technology Fund for Elderly and Rehabilitation Care (Gerontechnology)

Hong Kong · Hong Kong · See the Hong Kong profile · See the Hong Kong profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 30% 88/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Hong Kong's HK$2 billion Innovation and Technology Fund has, since 2018, subsidised elderly care units to buy or rent assistive and monitoring technology. By December 2025 it had disbursed about HK$910 million to roughly 2,100 units for over 27,000 tech products.

2 HKD billion
Fund size (2024-25)
910 HKD million
Grants approved (to Dec 2025)
~2,100
Service units subsidised (to Dec 2025)
27,000+
Technology products procured/rented (to Dec 2025)
Hong Kong's Innovation and Technology Fund for Elderly and Rehabilitation Care (Gerontechnology)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Government of the Hong Kong SAR – Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care, with HKCSS's Gerontechnology Platform
Period
2018-present
Keywords
digital inclusion, assistive technology, ageing in place, elderly care, gerontechnology

Context

In December 2018, the Hong Kong SAR Government set up the Innovation and Technology Fund for Application in Elderly and Rehabilitation Care with an initial HK$1 billion, to subsidise service units procuring or renting assistive/monitoring technology.

Activities

A further HK$1 billion was injected in the 2024-25 Budget, doubling the fund to HK$2 billion and, for the first time, extending scope to household (not just institutional) technology, supporting ageing in place. A parallel 'Gerontechnology Platform' via HKCSS provides start-up consultations and product testing.

Results

By December 2025 the Fund had approved about HK$910 million in grants, subsidising roughly 2,100 service units to procure or rent more than 27,000 technology products — up from ~HK$750 million, 2,000 units and 21,000 products just eighteen months earlier (June 2024).

Conclusions

The government acknowledges a persistent supply-side constraint: local start-ups and SMEs face insufficient funds, lack of promotion platforms and manpower shortages in developing and marketing new gerontechnology products.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Very high (> €5M) — HK$2 billion fund; HK$910 million disbursed by December 2025.
Time to results
Long (> 3 years) — Established December 2018; doubled in the 2024-25 Budget, ongoing.
Staffing & skills
Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) and nine partner organisations (Gerontechnology Platform)

Conditions for success

  • Doubling the fund and extending scope to household use to support ageing in place
  • A parallel platform helping local start-ups develop and test products, not just subsidising demand

Common failure modes

  • Local start-ups/SMEs face funding, promotion and manpower constraints on the supply side

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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