'Silver scouts' have a lot to offer
NEWCASTLE Science City (NSC) has proven that the older generation still has a lot to offer the region's budding entrepreneurs looking to use technology to help age-old problems after recruiting a bunch of ‘silver scouts’ as its newest team of researchers.
More than 30 people aged between 60 and 80 recently took part in a day-long workshop held at St James’s Park, where they were asked to share their experiences of daily life to feed in to NSC’s Innovation Machine campaign, which aims to develop new products and businesses by identifying niche markets.
The event focussed on mobility problems facing the elderly, both in public transport and within the home, and the team at NSC now believe they have the beginnings of a number of business ideas.
Opportunities discussed included ways of letting people know when their food was past its sell-by date and the need for help with memory problems.
These ideas will be passed on to NSC’s six innovation managers, who will then look at the possibility of turning them into fully fledged businesses within three years.
The innovation managers are employed by NSC as part of the campaign until they are able to set up their own business.
As well as further workshops with the group, which was made up of members of regional engagement panel VOICE North, NSC is looking to host similar events with other sections of the community, including young people and families.
Estelle Chatard, NSC programme director, said: “We had a great response to our workshop and these people hold the key to a number of great business propositions for us. Our ‘silver scouts’ represent a huge number of the population and their problems often apply to everyone.
“We have already identified gaps in the market from talking to these people and now we need to test the solutions to see if they can be turned into profitable enterprises.”
The event, which was jointly hosted by Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health, was supported by Newcastle University’s Business School and Northumbria University’s Design School.
Dr Lynne Corner, manager of VOICE North, said: “The group represents a huge pool of experience which could contribute to the development of new products and services.”
