A hundred young and older Uruguayans were the protagonists of the first edition of Genera, a space for integration and innovation created with the aim of promoting collaboration between different generations, revitalising the image of the elderly and jointly creating technological solutions that improve their quality of life.
The event took place recently at the Torre de las Telecomunicaciones de Antel and was attended by developers, designers and entrepreneurs under the age of 35, who devised prototype applications (apps) based on the needs of older adults.
Through this initiative, young people have an opportunity to generate work skills in multidisciplinary and intergenerational teams, in addition to demonstrating their talent to companies and state agencies. The call also included volunteers who collaborated in mentoring the teams and recreation for the older adults.
Alan Kind, co-organiser of the project with Ana Laura Spósito, said that "communication between diverse people generates extraordinary results in terms of both innovation and human experience. Older adults have a lot to contribute and a great desire to learn and create. There are many desires looking to be met and the listening and enthusiasm of young people can help to resolve them".
For his part, Spósito pointed out that very innovative applications were generated, many of which redefine concepts, as is the case of the winning project. Meanwhile, he commented that the main demands of Uruguayan retirees focused on socialisation, communication and facilitating daily routines.
Two teams were selected as the best of this first edition of Genera: SENSE and Sapiens Educación. The first place was awarded the possibility of being incubated by Sinergia as well as LG mobile phones, courtesy of ANTEL. The second will be mentored by the pre-incubator Nexo.
The winning team presented a solution based on sensors and wearable devices, which aims to replace the use of the panic button. This application monitors the activity of the elderly and in case of identifying an abnormal situation, it sends a notification to their network of close contacts such as neighbours or family.
The second prize, on the other hand, responds to the need of older adults to generate and share content. The solution consists of a network of content generators, which would be accessible to all and can be viewed from any electronic device.
El jurado estuvo integrado por la gerenta del Proyecto Ibirapitá, Albana Nogueira; la directora ejecutiva de Xeniors, Claudia Sirlin; la directora de Nexo, Catherine Krauss, y el sociólogo español, Javier Ramos Díaz.
The day also included a Design Thinking workshop, led by Rolando Meyer, professor of this area at the University of San Andrés in Argentina.
Genera(genera.uy) is a private initiative sponsored by JP Couto, with the support of the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) and the participation of Plan Ibirapitá, among other organisations.
Source: Empresas del Uruguay
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