Ageing in Place: Aligning Technology, Care and Policy to sustain a life of quality

How can technology enabled solutions be integrated into care systems to enhance not only healthcare efficiency, but also compassion, dignity, and quality of life for older adults living at home? 

This symposium examines the future of ageing in place at the intersection of healthcare delivery, technology, housing and the environment, as well as healthcare policy—domains that are deeply interdependent, yet often insufficiently aligned. Bringing together leaders across these sectors, the discussion will focus on how data, infrastructure, and care delivery can be coordinated to enable preventive, community-based, and human-centred models of care, so that Flanders can move from fragmented healthcare innovation to a fully integrated system operating at scale. 

Key questions to be addressed:

• How do we align data, infrastructure, and technology to sustain the physical and cognitive competencies of older people as they age? 
• How do we integrate housing, urban planning, and care delivery to truly enable ageing in place? 
• How do we move from fragmented pilots to a truly integrated ageing-in-place system? 
• If innovation is strong, why does adoption of health technology still fail in real-world care? 
• “No integration, no impact”—what will it take to make health data actually work? 
• How do we equip and incentivise caregivers to effectively integrate technology into care delivery, enhancing independent living and ageing-in-place while easing primary care demand? 
• How can we operationalise personalised, preventive care models through connected systems (not standalone devices) embedded in daily life? 
• How do we design privacy-preserving, trust-based data ecosystems that enable both individual care and also provide population-level health insights? 
• What system, funding, and governance mechanisms are required to transition from successful local pilots to region-wide, sustainable deployment?

Key voice in the debate:
Professor Richard Reilly (Trinity College Dublin), expert in neural engineering and Thinker in this program. He works for months with Flemish academics and stakeholders to answer one crucial question: How do we build a healthcare system in which humans and technology strengthen each other?

This symposium is the final stage of an intensive trajectory of research, debate, and collaboration with various external stakeholders. The Thinker's cycle was initiated by the KVAB, in cooperation with the Young Academy and the KAGB. A final report will also be published.

For whom?
Whether you work in healthcare, policy, technology, or are simply curious about the future… this is where the pieces of the puzzle come together.