A consortium of 11 French organisations, including NFC specialist Think&Go NFC, are to develop a range of digital services designed to help the elderly and partially sighted remain autonomous in their daily lives.

The é-change program partners include Casino, Essilor, Orange, Réunica, StreetLab, Eureva, Isidor, Probayes, Oktal SE, IMRI Fondation Paris Dauphine as well as Think&Go.

"This is a three year project with the objective of changing the technology and services currently available to senior people," é-change's Rémi Francard told NFC World, "making it easier for them to access dedicated services and better manage their wellness."

"The French state is actively participating in financing the project with the aim of understanding if this kind of platform can improve the life of people while reducing the cost of services."

"NFC is one of those technologies that can be used for ease of use and it's one of those that can be implemented quite easily," Think&Go NFC's Tim Baker explained.

"When you just point at something and it works, it's ideal for the people we're targeting with this project. The range of possibilities in where NFC can be used in an elderly person's daily life to encourage them to remain active is vast."

"It's not just about the technology though, it's the social aspect of keeping the elderly out of old people's homes," Baker says. "There's lots we can do around retail, how people can be encouraged to keep going out and shopping, having the diet information at hand for their condition."