Fourth International Congress on Gerontechnology is a Success!

 W. A. Rogers, N. Charness, A. D. Fisk, & S. Czaja

 The presentations were inspiring…the collegiality was pleasurable…the surroundings were beautiful…by all accounts the Fourth International Conference held in Miami in November 2002 was a great success!

One of the unique characteristics of the Gerontechnology Congress is its international flavor.  There were 172 attendees at the congress representing:  Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and 20 of the United States. 

The scope of the topics covered at the congress illustrates the breadth of the topic of gerontechnology.  This is exemplified by the keynote address listed in Table 1.

Table 1.  Keynote speakers – listed in order of presentation at the congress.

 The International Society for Gerontechnology is a multidisciplinary field focusing on effectiveness in creating technological environments for innovative and independent living and social participation of persons in good health, comfort, and safety.  An important function of our international congress is to enable the exchange of ideas amongst people from different countries as well as across disciplines and work contexts.  Attendees at the congress were employees of universities, national funding agencies, private industries, nursing homes, research centers, and medical facilities.  These individuals represented the disciplines of architecture, computer science, engineering, ergonomics, gerontology, human factors, management, medicine, nursing, psychology, psychiatry, rehabilitation engineering, robotics, and telecommunications.  These facets represent the essence of the International Society for Gerontechnology.

 Tremendous efforts are required for a conference of this scope to be successful.  We offer our thanks to all of the people who contributed in so many ways to this meeting including all of the presenters and attendees.  Thanks especially to Darnella Campbell, Betty McGehee, and Tracy Bestor from the Florida State University Center for Professional Development.  We especially appreciate the hard work of the student/research associate volunteers (you may remember these folks who were there to assist with audiovisual needs, session timing, and overall support).  From Florida State University: Patricia Holley and Tiffany Jastrzembski; from the University of Miami: Trinidad Argüelles, Chin Chin Lee, and Mario Hernandez; and from Georgia Institute of Technology: Travis Bowles, Jamye Hickman, Anne McLaughlin, Tim Nichols, Rich Pak, Julian Sanchez, and Aideen Stronge.  Also, thanks to Beth Charness for all her support (and feeding) of the Program Committee.

 The conference sponsors also deserve our sincere appreciation:  Florida State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Miami, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, the Herman Bouma Foundation for Gerontechnology, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE), which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute on Aging). 

 If you were unable to attend the meeting, we are sorry you missed it.  However, you may view all of the abstracts and the full text of the keynote addresses in Gerontechology, Volume 2(1).  We recommend that you mark your calendars for May 25-27, 2005 for the Fifth International Congress on Gerontechnology, which will be held in Nagoya, Japan.