TECFORLIFE

Assistive technology cluster for quality of life

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'European aging population has placed new demands on family units and raises pressing questions about the efficiency and management of care and support technologies and services for dependent people. Assistive technologies will play a key role in social inclusion, independency and autonomy of elderly people and disabled people, transforming the research activities in assistive technologies in the real solution to everyday life people in real conditions. General objective: to set the basis for the creation a new research driven cluster on assistive technologies (AT) in San Sebastián to improve the coordination of the local stakeholders working in the field and maximise the efforts and existing infrastructures for improving socioeconomic development and strengthen the RTD and innovation capacity of the city, and also acting as facilitator and catalyst at regional level. The project is structured in 9 workpackages. The mentoring of EU experts in AT along all the project duration has been envisaged in WP1, for ensuring that key documents developed in the project are relevant and consistent. Additionally, WP2 and WP3 will consider the framework in which assistive technology sector has developed for having an overall vision on the initiatives boosted from the public administrations and the evolution of AT technology market. Furthermore, the local economic and RTD potentiality of San Sebastián will be analysed in WP4. The focus of WP5 will be to mobilise the local stakeholders in order to extract jointly agreed, contrasted and validated the Cluster Research Agenda and Implementation Plan that will elaborated in parallel respectively in WP6 and WP7. Finally, WP8 will focus on the dissemination of the results achieved in the project and WP8 will ensure the correct management of the project and the monitoring of the progress. The main expected result of the project will be the Implementation Plan that will be the roadmap for the final creation of the AT cluster.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Elderly Europeans could soon benefit from a variety of new products and services to make their lives easier, thanks to an upcoming cluster for assistive technology (AT). The cluster will be established in the city of San Sebastian within Spain's autonomous Basque region.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The prospect of a rapidly ageing European population is sowing concern among EU policymakers who are searching for ways to reduce the burden on healthcare and social systems. One of the many solutions under discussion is the strengthening of ATs, which can enable elderly people to become more independent. The EU-funded project 'Assistive technology cluster for quality of life' (Tecforlife) elaborated a strategy for creating a technology cluster in San Sebastian in order to advance AT.

Bringing together research centres, public administration, industry and other stakeholders, the project developed a roadmap to create a powerful AT cluster. It analysed health cluster experiences at the EU level and examined policies that support the AT sector, in addition to mapping the current regional AT environment and outlining local development potential. This enabled the project team to design a cluster that advances AT research and development considerably, creating new companies, stoking innovation, and producing a host of new products and services.

After intense networking, training and promotion, the project identified key research areas such as tele-monitoring, which supports caregivers and promotes security. Another important topic involved improving accessibility to public transport, outdoor spaces, public services and even private buildings. The role of AT in improving the life of patients with chronic diseases and innovations for upgrading mobility, such as electric cars, were also on the agenda.

Other main research subjects of interest included better design of policies for the elderly and the physically challenged, as well as independent living and community-based living environments. The project also highlighted the need to conduct research on management models for public services to ensure responsible use of available economic resources.

By the end of the project, Tecforlife had successfully developed an implementation plan with guidelines on what needs to be done in order to launch the cluster. It disseminated the results of the project to stakeholders in the region and established a working group to realise this objective. The results are expected to be more employment in the AT sector, increased cooperation among stakeholders, economic development in the region and eventually a better standard of living for the elderly.