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IN-4-AHA’s fourth and last Focus Group held in Galicia (ES)

In May 2021, the Innovation Networks for Scaling Active and Healthy Ageing (IN-4-AHA) organized its first work package 4.2 activity in Galicia (ES). The event was organized by the Galician Health Cluster (CSG) and aimed to discuss the accessibility of technological solutions for active and healthy ageing.

IN-4-AHA aims to develop technological solutions which are fit for purpose and aligned with people-centered technologies. All solutions should favor the well-being and quality of life of people, and must be accessible, affordable, and adapted to the target group. The well-being of people runs like a thread through the project and its outcomes.

CSG carried out 3 Focus Groups involving people over 65, professionals from the social and health sector and relatives of elderly people, with the aim of finding out their opinions regarding the accessibility of technological solutions for ageing.

The fourth and last Focus Group, held on 24 May 2021, was attended by professionals from the CSG’s Living Lab network. The IN-4-AHA project was represented by Piret Hirv,Health Tech Manager at Tehnopol and IN-4-AHA’s project coordinator and WP3 leader, in charge of engagement stakeholder and Hille Hinsberg, Product Manager at Proud Engineers and WP5 leader, in charge of impact measurement indicators for the evaluation of the testing process in the IN-4-AHA project.

During the meeting, results of the previous Focus Groups were presented and a final decalogue of values was developed, which should serve as a guide and orientation for the design of people-centered technological solutions.

Focus Groups make it possible to identify barriers and facilitators in the experiences of using the technological solutions. The outcomes of these meetings are crucial in the adoption of the innovative projects selected in the open call of IN-4-AHA. The solutions will be tested in the network of CSG Living Labs.

Webinar: Senior Empowerment: adapting technologies to fit older populations

What European projects are enhancing the adoption of technologies for older populations? What are the struggles and successes felt in this regard?

This webinar wants to discuss ongoing projects working in the empowerment of senior or aging citizens through the introduction of new technologies and digital solutions. As always, we also want to address which gaps exist and which are the difficulties identified in scaling up these new solutions. Register here.

Date: May 28
Time: 15:00-16:00 (CET)

Agenda:

15:00-15:05 Introductory words by Elísio Costa , Porto4Ageing (University of Porto)

15:05-15:35 Projects/Institutions working in innovation or technology adoption.
Giuseppe Fico , Technical Manager at Gatekeeper project.
Niamh Redmond, Project Manager at the SHAPES project
Javier Ganzarain Co-founder, and CEO at AFEdemy.

15:35-16:00 Open discussion and Q&A.
Moderated by Gisela Garcia-Alvarez , Managing Director at Cluster Sáude Galicia, Kaija Villman-Alvarez, Project Manager at XAMK, and Cláudio Santos, Porto4Ageing (University of Porto).

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101017603.

Internal Consortium and Advisory Board workshop

The IN-4-AHA consortium organized its internal workshop on 11 May. For this occasion, the Advisory Board was invited to discuss the topic of stakeholder engagement and the overall participatory design process.

Valentina Tageo, member of the Advisory Board, joined the meeting to discuss methods and practices for the participatory design for digital AHA solutions. Additional presentations were given by Mireia Ferri, responsible for the co-creation process of the ValueCare project, and Nathalia Machedo, who works for Caritas Coimbra, a leading organisation of the ECHAlliance Portuguese ecosystem and responsible for the co-creation process design of several projects.

The presentation of Valentina Tageo has been uploaded below. Would you like to get in touch with us and learn more about our work? Contact us or follow us on social media!

Survey to AHA-related service providers/innovators

Dear service provider!

Are you providing solutions (service, innovation, product) to people of 65+ to support active and healthy ageing? Would you like to reach a bigger impact with your service? Do you wish to share your good practice with peers?

The aim of this survey is to map current practices in measuring the impact of innovative solution. The information collected by the survey will be used to improve an evaluation framework for the active and healthy aging domain.

What is in it for you?

You will receive the aggregated results and contribute to better methods and tools for impact assessment.

We invite you to take the survey, if you answer yes to at least 2 of the following points:

your organization has developed an innovative solution for active and healthy ageing such as digital health or care solution;
the end users are seniors (65 years or older), formal or informal caregivers or other organizations providing solution to end users;
your service has been brought to market in at least one EU state, and you aim to scale it up and go outside your home market.

The Innovation Networks for Scaling Active and Healthy Ageing (IN-4-AHA) is a Coordination and Support Action funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme. The EU-funded IN-4-AHA project will enhance the uptake of digital innovations in active and healthy ageing.

The deadline for submitting answers has been extended to May 20.

Extended deadline! Open Call for the IN-4-AHA Living Lab Testing Scheme

IN-4-AHA released its first Open Call for the IN-4-AHA Living Lab Testing Scheme on 1 April. The initial deadline of 30 April has now been postponed to 14 May. Please get in touch with us if you wish to receive more information about your application or the process.

The objective of IN-4-AHA Open Call is to facilitate the scalability of innovative solutions in active and healthy ageing across EU. It offers testing opportunities and business coaching for innovative and scalable solutions. User-centred cross-border testing of selected innovations will be done in e-environments and physical spaces in Finland and Spain.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for:

Scalable digital or technology-supported innovation to test according to real-life needs.
Solutions offered to real users. Technology maturity level TRL5 or higher.
The end-users of the solution have to be seniors (65 and older), formal or informal caregivers for seniors, or organisations offering services to seniors.
Particularly in the following fields:

– mHealth solutions for active and healthy ageing

– smart age-friendly homes and independent living

– chronic disease management

Who can apply?

The eligible applicant must be legally registered in a Member State of the European Union or in a Horizon 2020 associated country.

SMEs, start-ups, large companies, universities, research and technology centred and other organisations.

The eligible solution is a digital or technology-support innovation for active and healthy ageing.

Apply here

Please first read the detailed information about the Open Call from the launch document and fill in the application form below.

Link to the application form (Webropol, opens into a new window)

What do the 5 finalists receive?

The five finalists receive

testing opportunities with users in living labs in Finland and Spain
business coaching for scaling up from an international coaching team
feedback and report based on the user-centred testing in Finland and in Spain
visibility on IN-4-AHA webpage

All applicants receive

IN-4-AHA network partners offer services for all the applicants eligible for their innovation and business support programs.

Evaluation criteria

1-5 points are awarded to the following criteria:

Team behind the solution (weight 25 %)

For example clear vision and strategy, skills and competences, resources

Solution (weight 25 %)

For example novelty, PCC, TRL 5 or higher

Scalability (weight 25 %)

“CORRECT” adapted from WHO (2009)

Business potential (weight 25 %)

For example size and growth of the potential market

More information

See the details of the open call from the Launch of an Open Call for the IN-4-AHA Living lab testing scheme here:

Launch of the Open Call (pdf)

Data protection

Data protection policy in In-4-AHA (pdf)

Timeline

April 1, 2021:

Launch of the Call

May 14, 2021:

Extended deadline for applications

May 15 May to May 30, 2021:

Evaluation period, requests for additional information

May 31, 2021:

Selection of the finalists

June 1 to June 13, 2021:

Preliminary discussions and agreements

From June to December, 2021:

User-centred tests

From August to December, 2021:

Business coaching

Testing sites

Xamk Active Life Lab

Testing services at Xamk Active Life Lab (pdf)
Xamk Active Life Lab (website)

CSG Cluster Saúde de Galicia

Testing services at CSG (pdf)
CSG Cluster Saúde de Galicia (website)

Workshop: How to unlock the potential of stakeholders in active and healthy ageing participatory design process?

How to create an innovative solution that will excel in the market? Who to engage in the design process? How to engage? Which are the tools for stakeholder engagement?

On 21 April, the IN-4-AHA consortium organized the workshop “How to unlock the potential of stakeholders in active and healthy ageing participatory design process” to answer these specific questions. The virtual meeting was hosted to discuss best practices from the Unites States and Estonia on how to create and scale up successful products in the field of active and healthy ageing.

The event focused on the involvement of end-users and how stakeholders can be actively involved in the design process of novel solutions. The first presentation was given by Helen Kokk, UI/UX Expert and Graphic Designer (Estonia), who discussed specific case-studies on stakeholder engagement. Robert Schultz, Managing Director at Massnex (United States), informed the audience on his experiences on how to partner with the community and target group.

Innovation for Ageing kick-off meeting engaged also external expert’s vision and insights.

The kick-off meeting of the IN-4-AHA project was held on 9 February. External stakeholders were invited to join the morning programme to discuss the project’s mission, the current policy framework, and existing barriers to scale-up active and healthy ageing. IN-4-AHA proved how it can unlock the potential and deliver the promise of digital innovation. The consortium furthermore showcased how stakeholders such as the EIP on AHA community, policy-makers, healthcare providers, SME’s, and investors can be engaged in the project.

Irina Kalderon Libal (DG CONNECT, European Commission) presented the current EU policy framework around ageing and focused on the Green Paper on Ageing that was published on 27 January 2021. Gisela Garcia- Alvarez (Galician Health Cluster), a partner in the IN-4-AHA consortium, discussed the importance of clusters and digital innovation hubs to engage with several layers of the society and together work towards innovative solutions. During a lively panel discussion, members of the IN-4-AHA consortium and external stakeholders discussed the legacy of EIP on AHA, and, furthermore, identified what kind of changes are required for the future. The speakers agreed that new solutions should be sustainable and must be built upon strong dialogues with all sorts of stakeholders. The new plans should be in line with procurers’ needs and the expectations of the end-users.

Link to recording: https://www.tehnopol.ee/en/innovation-networks-for-scaling-active-and-healthy-ageing/

Experienced Partners Joint Forces to Empower Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing

The EU-funded IN-4-AHA project (SC1-HCC-08-2020) will build on the achievements and legacy of the EIP on AHA ecosystem to further enhance the uptake of digital innovations in active and healthy ageing. The main outcome of the IN-4-AHA project is an active and healthy ageing innovation scale-up model that is validated by stakeholders and complemented by a clear implementation roadmap, an innovation impact evaluation toolkit and a strategy for long-term investments.

February 2021– The Innovation Networks for Scaling Active and Healthy Ageing (IN-4-AHA) project consists of nine partners and will build upon the legacy of the EIP on AHA ecosystem and advance digital innovation for the benefit of the silver economy.

The success and large-scale use of digital tools for citizen empowerment and person-centred care heavily depend on an active contribution from local and regional ecosystems, stakeholder groups, and organisations, including industry, civil society, academia, and public administration. In this respect, the main objective of the IN-4-AHA project is to ensure the overall coordination and support to further scale-up mechanisms provided by EIP on AHA and its stakeholders towards a more efficient uptake of innovations in active and healthy ageing.

IN-4-AHA will engage with stakeholders in multiple workshops throughout the project and capitalize those workshops in two ways – in improving both the innovation cycle as well as the engagement with all relevant stakeholders. Besides actively involving the EIP on AHA community, the project will also engage with the Joint Programming Initiative on More Years Better Lives, the Active and Assisted Living Programme, EIT Digital and EIT Health.

The IN-4-AHA project is aiming to bring together the supply and demand sides in implementing scaling up strategies for innovative solutions (technology, integration of health and social care, systemic change), taking into account end-users’ perspective. IN-4-AHA will develop a model which facilitates the scale-up of innovative solutions in active healthy ageing. This model will be built around:

The efficient engagement and active contributions from stakeholder networks and the existing ecosystem;
The spill-over of actionable knowledge into practical tools for EIP on AHA and its Reference Sites;
A Roadmap to implement the change and boost the scale-up;
The Investment strategy.

With a total budget of € 1 958 137,51, the project will be implemented by a consortium of 9 partners coming from 6 EU countries with different and complementary backgrounds. IN 4- AHA is coordinated by TEHNOPOL SCIENCE AND BUSINESS PARK.

Consortium partners