Funka leads major EU-project on digital innovation

Funka has recently been awarded an important European project called WE4AHA, which is short for “Widening the support for large scale uptake of Digital Innovation for Active and Healthy Ageing”. In this project, Funka is leading a highly interdisciplinary consortium to support digital innovation in the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing.

After three successful years leading the partnership, it is very exciting to get another opportunity to offer support in this strategic area, says José Angel Martinez Usero, who is managing the project and the Funka team involved.

Funka and the WE4AHA consortium will coordinate individuals, businesses, research and industry players, national and regional public authorities, governments, health and care organisations, policy-makers and the investment community as the natural stakeholders called to commit and engage themselves in responding to the addressed challenge of an ageing society.

Boosting innovation, mobilising investments and fostering upscale

While demographic change represents a societal challenge for Europe, it also offers new opportunities for innovation and economic growth, particularly in ICT and the digital economy. Digital innovation has the potential to ensure elderly remain independent, active and live longer in their homes and communities, at the same time as the efficiency of health and social care systems is increased and new sectors of the economy are enhanced. Innovative digital health solutions can support healthier lifestyles and empower citizens to manage their own health conditions, yet still meet the expectations of patients and carers.

Digital solutions can improve the availability and accessibility of services to citizens which are challenged by the increasing cost of some biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Therefore, digital innovation is an opportunity to improve the quality of life of the ageing population and to shift towards more sustainable health and care systems, creating economic growth and jobs in the Silver Economy.

Leading the change

To better coordinate and support stakeholders towards this challenge, the WE4AHA project will support the definition and execution of the further development to drive the policy vision on digital innovation, and the consolidation of the EIP on AHA. Taking this leadership, WE4AHA will contribute to connect demand and supply stakeholders through matchmaking, assess innovative interventions, foster engagement and promote stakeholders’ cooperation, support the evolution and the identification of policy priorities, finally creating the conditions to unlock the potential of innovation in the ageing sector.

WE4AHA is funded under the EU H2020 Programme envisaged to provide coordination and support measures for the development and the implementation of three EU guided initiatives: Innovation to Market (I2M), Blueprint for Digital Transformation of Health and Care for the Ageing Society, and EIP on AHA.

Funded by: Horizon 2020
Consortium: Funka (project leader) European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN), Empirica, Campania Region, European Health Telematics Association, Open Evidence, AGE Platform Europe, TICBioMed, ECHAlliance.
Period: September 2017 - December 2020
Budget: 2 million EURO

EIP on AHA portal, opens in new window

Blueprint: Digital Transformation of Health and Care for the Ageing Society, opens in new window

Project update

European event on ageing and care in digital transformation in September
Funka is supporting the the Ambient Assisted Living Programme (AAL) to team up with the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) and jointly hold the two initiatives’ annual conferences in September in Aarhus, Denmark.
European regions drive innovation in active and healthy ageing
An opportunity for regional partnerships involving the public sector, industry, academia and civil society to gain recognition for their committment to delivering high-quality services to the ageing population.
Accessibility as a key element enabling Active and Healthy Ageing
Accessibility features combined with digital transformation can contribute to improve the quality of life of older people, their inclusion and participation to the society. Funka addresses these issues in the project WE4AHA.
Innovative digital solutions a key component for Active and Healthy Ageing
As coordinator for the WE4AHA project, Funka recently participated in and supported the European Commission with the Conference of Partners of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing in Brussels, The conference focused on how to ensure a large-scale deployment of innovative digital solutions, as a key component of the transformation of health and care.
Engagement towards Active and Healthy Ageing - recent developments presented in Italy
Funka's Roberto Zuffada was invited to two events in Italy, presenting the most recent developments of the European Innovation partnership for Active and Healthy Ageing, thus confirming the leadership of Funka in the market of digital innovation for ageing and well-being.
Funka is leading an important innovation project on ageing
7-8 September 2017 was the kick-off for the major coordination and support action on ageing related issues, that Funka leads in the framework of EU research programs.