At our recent LGA masterclass on data, digital and future trends Microsoft’s Helena Zaum cited Imperial College’s use of ‘mixed reality’ to allow medical students to attend virtual ward rounds whilst augmenting the attending doctor’s vision with X-rays, charts and colleagues’ avatars.

And you may have read about Hampshire County Council’s trial of Japanese-designed wearable cobotics, which are helping care workers moving and handling adults reduce the impact on their own physical wellbeing. The lower-back exoskeletons (deployed in partnership with robotics developer Cyberdyne, PA Consulting and Argenti) reportedly reduced carers’ need for help from colleagues – an enticing prospect for anyone assigning limited resources.

This work is about to move out of a trial phase into mainstream practice – proof if we needed it that use of emerging tech is moving at pace now.

While cost may put cutting-edge kit off limits for many commissioners right now, the opportunities presented by a new generation of AI (“assistive intelligence”, as Helena terms it) are genuinely exciting. After all, the issues we hope they’ll solve are real and urgent.

Supporting an ageing population, often geographically separated from family and friends, with our limited resources and workforce is a huge challenge that requires very fresh thinking.

Supporting independence, choice and control is a core mission for social care and tech is a great fit, especially when it comes to improving the experience of personal care, designing a more personalised service and improving the quality of face-to-face contact with professionals.