Apple Inc, IBM Corp and Japanese insurance and bank holding company Japan Post Holdings Inc have formed a partnership to improve the lives of elderly people in Japan.
The companies say they hope other countries will follow suit as the world’s population ages. About a quarter of Japan’s population, or more than 33 million people, is over 65, the companies said, citing data from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and Japan Post CEO Taizo Nishimuro announced the deal in New York on Thursday.
Japan Post has a service in which its employees visit the elderly to check up on them on behalf of family members. The tie-up would allow it to use Apple’s devices to collect information on the senior citizens that would then be analyzed by IBM’s Watson analytics technology.
The program is to provide iPads with apps designed to help seniors manage their day-to-day lives and keep in touch with family members. IBM is to provide cloud services and help create apps to improve seniors’ quality of life, whether that means finding a plumber, keeping in touch with distant family members or remembering to take medications.
Cook said Apple strives to make its products accessible and easy to use, and noted that many of the company’s recent products have focused on health. For example, its HealthKit platform lets users share health information, such as heart rate or weight, with various smartphone apps to get a more complete picture of the user’s health and fitness level.
Apple and IBM formed a partnership last year to create mobile apps for a broad range of industries. This has led to the creation of 22 apps so far.
Japan Post is also using Thursday’s announcement as a springboard for visits with investors in New York, San Francisco and Washington, leading up to initial public offerings of the company’s three businesses.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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