Assoc Prof Tan Hwee Pink leads a team of technology and social science researchers to bring together Internet of Things technologies, and social-behavioural research to enable and sustain ageing-in-place, leading, in a broader sense, to intelligent and inclusive societies. This is done in close partnership with A*STAR, TCS, various government agencies, as well as Voluntary Welfare Organisations. 

Assoc Prof Tan was the lead PI for the L2-NIC funded SHINESeniors project, which successfully deployed sensor-enabled homes to inform community care for 100 seniors living alone. He is currently Co-PI of an SGEnable-funded project, SmartBFA, aimed at crowdsourcing accessibility information from passive Internet of Things (IoT) devices for barrier free access for wheelchair users in Singapore.  

At SMU, he teaches an Information Systems Depth Elective on Internet of Things: Technology and Applications, targeted at senior undergraduate students, as well as students pursuing the Professional Masters of IT and Business (MITB). He was appointed an Adjunct Faculty with the Geriatric Education and Research Institute (GERI) in May 2017. 

Assoc Prof Tan obtained his Ph.D. from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in 2004. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and has served on executive roles for various conferences on wireless sensor networks. 

Presentation Synopsis
Large-scale IoT Systems for Ageing-in-Place: Experiences and Lessons Learnt towards Sustainability
The paradigm of ageing-in-place – where the elderly live and age in their own homes, independently and safely, with care provided by the community – is compelling, especially in societies that face both shortages in institutionalised eldercare resources, and rapidly ageing populations. When the number of elderly who live alone rises rapidly, support and care from their communities become increasing crucial. Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, particularly in-home monitoring solutions, are becoming mature. They can become the fundamental enabler for smart community eldercare. 

In this presentation, Assoc. Prof. Tan will be sharing experiences and learnings gathered from large-scale deployments of IoT systems in homes of elderly living alone, focusing on two aspects which are key for sustainability: (i) value creation for the ageing-in-place public health ecosystem and (ii) the operational and usability aspects of such systems.