GE-Intel- Aging in Place #2

Listening to the Webcast of the joint venture announcement from GE and Intel I picked up on the following important remarks.

Louis Burns from Intel and Omar Ishrak from GE agree that the technology is not the roadblock holding back the market. The barriers are a combination of two major factors:

1. Everyone has to get comfortable doing things in a different way.

2. Healthcare costs will be distributed and paid for differently as technologies are employed to care for people in their homes. (pretty radical offhand comment, no?)

The road to change on these two factors is a long one. The market potential is so huge it is worth it.

Other points from the Webcast:

3. The Joint Venture they are continuing is based on well meshed skills and capabilities. Interesting that they mentioned Intel’s ethnographic capabilities. I agree that is important, but it is hardly what many might expect is a key skill typically associated with ‘the largest chip maker in the world’. Intel has learned a lot since they entered healthcare a few years ago. They both recognize the breadth that must be brought to this area to succeed.

4. They recognize that it is hardware, it is software and many other services and products need to make all of this work. It may be partnerships, it may be in house developments. It is a large task with a long way to go. Remember, the technology is NOT the barrier!