Apple and International Business Machines plan on making life easier for Japan's elderly with a new partnership with Japan Post Holdings.
The three companies announced the deal on Thursday, which will have them spend the next year building iPad software that will help Japan Post's national Post Office Watch service do a better job at checking in on elderly clients, according to The Wall Street Journal. This service also provides clients with consultation services and the ability to connect and send reports to family members.
There are currently 127 million people in Japan, one-fourth of which are over 65 years old. A Japan Post official said giving seniors iPads will allow family members to make sure they aren't hurt and that they aren't be taken advantage of by scams.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and IBM CEO Virginia Rometty said the new partnership will produce new software that corporate workers will have an easier time using, WSJ reported.
"We want to change the way people work," Cook said. "There are too many enterprises that are stuck in a different era."
The deal's announcement follows almost a year after Apple and IBM formed a partnership in July 2014 to provide Apple technology for big businesses.
Cook and Rometty announced the new partnership along with Japan Post Holdings President Taizo Nishimuro at a news conference at IBM's Watson headquarters in New York City, Reuters reported.
The Japan Post official said the three companies will start a six-month long pilot program later this year, which will equip older citizens 1,000 free iPads, and that the company plans on turning program into a regular business in April 2016, WSJ reported. IBM said the companies intend to reach four to five million customers in Japan by 2020, though they have yet to work out fees and other details.
