Press release - 26 September 2011 06:48

Vice-Chancellor Lena Gustafsson gives introductory speech at AAL forum in Italy

Europe’s Ambient Assisted Living Association (AAL) opened its three-day annual conference in Lecce, Italy today. Vice-Chancellor Lena Gustafsson - and AAL Association President - delivered the welcoming speech.

Lena Gustafsson welcomed more than 600 participants - including some 50 exhibitors, most of the 50 projects supported by the AAL, as well as overseas participants from North America and Africa - to a meeting in the shadow of the economic crisis.

This year’s AAL Forum is focusing on the gap between projects and results – “supply and demand”, as said by Lena Gustafsson.

“We are also addressing the area of social innovation in this year Forum,” she adds. “As an organisation we are convinced that AAL products and activities in the near future will support social innovations, i.e. new ways of addressing social concerns that affect all people. In a world where social security systems are changing across Europe we think that social innovation will be one of the key phrases of the future and we are convinced that our AAL products and solutions will be part of this new way of thinking.”’

Silas Olsson, Acting Director of the AAL’s central management unit in Brussels, says the AAL programme is focusing on providing solutions. “The word ‘solutions’ is key as far as we’re concerned,” he says, “because it is solutions that we focus on most. It could be tools or practical assistance, but most importantly it is a service that builds bridges between people and makes accessible a range of services to support
healthcare, social care and social interaction.

About the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme

The AAL Joint Programme is initially set up for a duration from 2008 to 2013. The programme’s planned total budget is 700 M€, of which approx. 50% is public funding - from the AAL Partner States and the European Commission - and approx. 50% is private funding from participating private organisations (e.g. enterprises).

The objective of the AAL Joint Programme is to enhance the quality of life of older people and strengthen the industrial base in Europe through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The motivation of the new funding activity is in the demographic change and ageing in Europe, which implies not only challenges but also opportunities for the citizens, the social and healthcare systems as well as industry and the European market. The concept of Ambient Assisted Living is understood as:

to extend the time people can live in their preferred environment by increasing their autonomy, self-confidence and mobility,
to support maintaining health and functional capability of the elderly individuals,
to promote a better and healthier lifestyle for individuals at risk,
to enhance the security, to prevent social isolation and to support maintaining the multifunctional network around the individual,
to support careers, families and care organisations,
to increase the efficiency and productivity of used resources in the ageing societies.

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