Abstract

Digital technology has been changing everyday life of ordinary people let alone the structure of world industry. The elderly care service is also going through changes influenced by the unavoidable impact from torrents of digital technologies. There are numerous reports and news about the digital technologies increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of care service yet lacking systematic understanding of the sources of such improvement. This study aims to present a new classification framework for digital elderly care service innovation to fully utilize the power of digital technologies drawing on insights from innovation studies and service studies. First, 4 features of digital technologies are identified as sources of new value in service innovation. The co-creation of value by users and producers in service and technology development is discussed to illuminate users’ contributions to service innovation. Communication of needs and ideas with producers and application of new technologies into everyday practice of life are identified as the source of new value which can be attributed to the elderly. Customization along with efficiency gains is the key to digital elderly care service innovation. The classification framework, thus, incorporates the needs of the elderly as one axis of criteria in the conventional technology-centered framework. The new classification framework would help give due weight to user-driven or demand-driven innovation in the elderly care service R&D activities.