Smart home technology: Challenges and opportunities for collaborative governance and policy research

Abstract

Developing and developed nations face demographic challenges in the coming decades. Aging populations are expected to strain health resources and social safety nets. Smart home technology (SHT) is touted as a means for simultaneously improving quality of life and independence, while also reducing the long-term costs of caring for an aging population. SHT also presents myriad governance and policy challenges, especially the protection and use of vast amounts of patient data. Alas, the governance and policy aspects of SHT research have been largely peripheral. The aims of this review are to cogently present the governance benefits and challenges of SHT and prompt greater engagement by policy scholars in myriad unanswered research questions. Specifically, it uses the collaborative governance framework to identify opportunities for, and barriers to, forward-thinking public and private collaboration. Research engagement by policy researchers is vital for effective governing of this burgeoning sector.