Fraunhofer Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions – AICOS5.9.2014
The AAL Forum is the annual platform for the increasing European AAL community to meet and discuss several topics, relevant for improving the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP) as well as the adoption of AAL solutions in the market. It is an initiative of the AAL Joint Programme. The AAL Forum is taking place from the 9th to the 12th of September in Bucharest (Romania).
Each year, Fraunhofer Portugal attends this event as a way to present and demonstrate some of its technologies and ongoing projects. In the 2014 edition, five projects will be under demonstration (stands 12, 13 and 14): AAL4All, ChefMyself, COLABORAR, Fall Competence Center, and Smart Companion. A team of researchers from Fraunhofer Portugal will be presenting these projects and providing information about their usage, characteristics, functionalities, objectives, etc.
The presence of Fraunhofer Portugal will certainly bring a different flavor to the Forum as ChefMyself will be leading show cooking sessions every day, presenting different and healthy recipes. On Tuesday (9th), visitors may learn how to prepare “Red pepper cream with toast”; on Wednesday (10th), “Salmon pâté with toast” and “Cream of carrot soup” will be the highlights; and on Thursday (11th), the team will show how to prepare “Cream of pea soup” and “Dark chocolate sorbet”.
The AAL Forum is the annual showcase event for the people involved in the AAL JP’s projects and the AAL community. It is the core connection of the joint programme to the AAL Community. This community includes policy makers, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) developers, manufacturers, health professionals, commissioners, businesses, venture companies, technologists, academics, designers, carers and, of course, older adults. Its purpose is to exhibit and demonstrate existing or developing ICT solutions (products and services), promote networking within the community, foster the interest of other sectors in the field of AAL, provoke debate and discussion on various topics and highlight new or emerging developments in the area to inform the AAL community.
The Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP) is an initiative involving 22 countries and its main objectives are to improve the living conditions of older adults through the use and development of AAL solutions and to strengthen the competitiveness of European industry in the AAL domain. The AAL Joint Programme was initially set up to run from 2008 to 2013. The programmes planned total budget is 700 M€, of which approximately 50% is public funding – from the AAL Partner States and the European Commission – and approximately 50% is private funding from participating private organizations. The first AAL Joint Programme has now ended following the coordination of 6 thematic calls and the new Active and Assisted Living Programme has commenced with this being the first call taking a challenge-led approach. This new approach enables innovative solutions to be openly identified in response to and seeing the societal and economic challenges as drivers of innovation.