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News

EU pins hopes on ICT to ease ageing challenge[fr][de]

Published: Tuesday 2 October 2007

The EU's upcoming 'Ambient Assisted Living' research programme, due to start next year, is expected to improve quality of life for older people by bringing about more efficient and personalised health care and creating new business opportunities for European industry.

Background:

With average life expectancy increasing, Europe's population is ageing, with the number of people aged 65 to 80 expected to rise by nearly 40% between 2010 and 2030.

In order to respond to the economic and social challenges posed by this demographic change, the Commission proposed in June 2007 to launch an action plan on ageing well in the information society. The aim is to use information and communication technologies (ICT) to enable the efficient delivery of health and social care and increase opportunities for community and self-care innovation.

The action plan is being accompanied by a new research and development programme aimed at enhancing the quality of life of older people through the use of ICT: Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). The AAL funding programme is to be established under Article 169 of the EU Treaty, which means that the initiative will be member-state driven.

Other related news:

EU science ministers discussed on 27 September 2007 the Community's participation in the Ambient Assisted Living research programme, which is set to be implemented by a number of EU member states and third countries next year.

The specific aims of the six-year programme are:

Fostering the emergence of innovative ICT-based products and services for ageing well, thus increasing the quality of life of elderly people and reducing the costs of health and social care;
Improving conditions for industrial exploitation by providing a coherent European framework to develop common approaches, facilitate localisation and reduce the cost of services;
Creating and leveraging a critical mass of research, development and innovation at EU level in technologies and services in the field of ageing.

So far, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden as well as Israel, Norway and Switzerland have agreed to co-ordinate joint activities to contribute to the AAL programme.

The AAL budget is expected to amount to some €300 million for the period 2008-2013 - made up equally from Community and member-state funds.

Positions:

"Europe's ageing population is a challenge for our job market and its social and health systems. But it is also an economic and social opportunity. ICT will provide new and more accessible products and services that meet the needs of older people," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media.