Parentech - The Future of Parenting
Class: Fall 2019 Munich
Abstract
The advancement of technology and the increasingly dynamic environment have permeated all aspects of all our lives in simple and complex ways – even for children at young age which raises the question: To what extent has this changed parenting to-date, and what will raising children and the interaction between parents and their children look like in 20 years from today? Parents face many questions nowadays: What role does technology play for our child, and does this change the relationship between our child and us? What leisure activities and education should our child pursue at what age to be prepared for its future? How do our family values evolve? What way can we ensure to fulfill our responsibilities as a parent while looking after ourselves? This report identifies current trends that affect the future of parenting in the next twenty years and derives four future scenarios as well as five related business ideas.
Trends
Technology Trends
- Autonomous Things
- Smart Connectivity
- Quantified Self
- Digital Reality
- Assisted Reproductive Technology
Societal & Environmental Trends
- Family Downsizing
- Career-Focused Mothers
- Changing Family Models
- Individualized Education
- Conscious Lifestyle Choices
Legal & Political Trends
- Increasing Investments in Preschool Education
- Heightened Emphasis on Healthy Lifestyles
- Rising Awareness for Childhood Security
- Establishing Parent-Friendly Policy Frameworks
- Standardization of Data Privacy
Economic Trends
- Growing Baby Care Market
- Rise of the Circular Economy
- Upsurge in Healthcare Investment
- Increasing Flexible Work Arrangements
- Attention Economy
Business Models Trends
- Automated Recurring Payments
- On-Demand Services
- Sharing Economy
- Mass Personalization
- Customer Engagement
Report
"Adoption of Robots in Childcare": The degree of robot adoption for assisting childcare profoundly impacts parenting. Technological advancements in artificial intelligence and automation catalyze this development, which enables robots to gain advanced senses to interact more naturally with children and to automate many parental duties. Therefore, robot adoption influences the amount of quality time that parents spend with their children as they rather support than substitute them. Furthermore, robots hugely impact the way children grow up in diverse areas such as education, entertainment, safety, and monitoring. However, the extent of adoption is mainly dependent on the societal acceptance and governmental regulations of the usage of robots in childcare.
"Parental Work-Leisure Balance": How parents spend their day determines if a parent-child relationship can be created and sustained. People either work, pursue basic self-care activities or have leisure time, which they can spend freely. The day-to-day routine of parents determines how much parents interact with their children and which role they play in their children’s upbringing. Depending on societal goals, the government influences the parents’ work-leisure ratio through subsidies. A parent liberated from work can pursue a different parenting approach than one working all day. The parental work-leisure balance influences how children are raised and by whom. Further, this impacts not only school education but also the children’s interpersonal education and development.
“Assisted Imbalance”: This is a world in which parents’ self-fulfillment is based on a focus on work. Children are taken care of by robots, and parents spend very little time together with their children.
“Pursuit of Perfection”: While in this scenario parents still spend little time with their children, robots do not take care of them, which shifts more organizational effort to the parents.
“Free as a Bird”: Parents in such a world have plenty of time to spend with their children and they use no robots to help them with any parenting tasks. This may enable a stronger parent-child bond.
“Parenting at Ease”: Although in this world parents have plenty of time to spend with their children, robots may take over some parenting tasks.
Exploration
1. YANA - Educational Peer-to-Peer Digital Ecosystem for Parents
2. HÄLSA - A Better Way to Attain Healthy and Tasty Nutrition for the Entire Family
3. DEEPSLEEP - A Smart Baby Bed Improving the Sleep of Babies and Parents Simultaneously
4. KOKORO - Your Digital Guardian
5. GRIZZLYSTORIES - Personalized Children’s Books Made for Young Rebels