Bekanntmachungen

Inducement prize: Tactile Displays for the Visually Impaired

People with visual impairment have serious difficulties in accessing digital information. This is a growing challenge as digital content becomes increasingly reliant on graphics which are particularly challenging to translate. Existing solutions are very costly and provide limited reading experience, usually in braille and not graphics. The objectives of this inducement prize are: to address this significant gap in the ICT market with a tactile graphical display that makes visually impaired people benefit from digital technologies and improves the quality of their lives especially in the area of education and navigation; and, to stimulate broader European efforts in developing solutions for this societal need. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 27 November 2018.

Smart and healthy living at home

Citizens in a rapidly ageing European population are at greater risk of cognitive impairment, frailty and multiple chronic health conditions with considerable negative consequences for their independence, quality of life and for the sustainability of health and care systems. The challenge is to foster large-scale deployment of integrated digital solutions which will bring improved quality of life to citizens while demonstrating significant efficiency gains in health and care delivery across Europe. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 14 November 2018.

Large scale implementation of digital innovation for health and care in an ageing society

An ageing population is increasing demand-side pressures on public health and social care providers across Europe. These pressures undermine the long-term sustainability of existing models for delivering care services to the ageing population.

The challenge is to scale up outcome-based innovative digital health and care solutions across EU borders through joining up actions in procurement of innovation. Digital health and social care solutions have been tested and have demonstrated success in smaller scale settings. However, large-scale deployment of digital health and care solutions across EU borders remains limited. There is a lack of collaborative efforts in public purchasing of innovative ICT-based solutions for active and healthy ageing and successfully engaging demand and supply sides in scaling up innovation. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2019.

Digital health and care services

Digital solutions supporting a continuum of care across a range of health and care services can relieve the pressure on governments to provide more cost-effective health and care systems by improving utilisation of healthcare and health outcomes. In this context the challenges are to network, lead and facilitate health systems research, innovation and digitisation in view of addressing key areas of interventions in health and care services including health promotion and disease prevention. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 14 November 2018.

Large Scale pilots of personalised & outcome based integrated care

Senior people are statistically at greater risk of cognitive impairment, frailty and multiple chronic health conditions with consequences for their independence, their quality of life (and the one of their families) but also for the sustainability of health and social care systems. There is also increasing evidence that interactions with the environment play an important role in the evolution of the patient's health status and condition. The challenge is now to foster secure, scalable and robust digital solutions for integrated care which will:

• Ensure a truly personalized delivery of health and social care, whilst supporting outcomes-based significant efficiency gains in health and care delivery.
• Promote a shift towards outcome-based delivery of integrated (health and social) care, which can be realised in a realistic operational, organisational and financial setting.
• Ensure trust of users and policy makers with regard to data access, protection and sharing.
• Design flexible but replicable solutions with a potential for financial sustainability, large scale deployment and further business and job creation opportunities.

The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2019.

Support for the large scale uptake of open service platforms in the Active and Healthy Ageing domain

In the past years several open service platforms for Active and Healthy Ageing domains have been developed, originating from the medical, independent living, and IoT domain. These platforms aim at building a common basis for application development, assuring interoperability at the application and service level, and reducing development cost by re-use of components. As these platforms mature more insight is needed in the way they contribute to the development of a scalable and open market for digital solutions for health and ageing, and which value is actually achieved through them. The integration of platforms between different domains will introduce new interoperability issues that need to be tackled. A coordination and support action that addresses these issues and gathers the insight referred above is needed in order to promote the effective uptake and impact of open platforms. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2019.

Adaptive smart working and living environments supporting active and healthy ageing

Demographic change and the ageing of the population create new heterogeneous challenges for age-friendly living, recreational and working environments such as a shrinking workforce and increasing numbers of workers with functional impairments, chronic conditions, care duties or re-integration in and later retirement from the labour market.

Digital solutions can support older individuals in being and staying actively involved in professional life for longer by designing fit for purpose working environments and by enabling flexible management of job-, leisure- and health-related activities considering their needs at the workplace, at home and on the move, with a particular focus on social inclusion, health needs and job retention. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2018.

Support to further development of international cooperation in digital transformation of health and care

Citizens in ageing populations wish to stay in their homes for as long as possible. They are however at risk of age related impairments such as poor health, cognitive impairment, frailty and social exclusion with considerable negative consequences for their independence, quality of life, that of those who care for them, and for the sustainability of health and care systems.

There is an increasing global interest in cooperation on research and innovation addressing this issue with digital solutions and services. It is however necessary to identify the future areas for international cooperation which have the highest potential as well as support the identification and networking of the potential funding organisations which can promote future cooperation. In line with the strategy for EU international cooperation in research and innovation (COM(2012)497), international cooperation is encouraged, in particular with the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea and China. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2018.

Digital health and care services – support for strategy and (early) adoption

Health and care service providers and users are increasingly facing complex decisions when exploring and investing in new health and care solutions. There is a need to support cross-border cooperation in preparation of procurement of research and innovative digital solutions, including on how to balance innovation risks with improved outcomes. Further support is also needed for implementing high quality policies, strategies and practises in a concerted manner and providing more confidence in addressing key areas of interventions and related unmet needs, procedures and other measures. In addition there is a need to facilitate an appropriate dialogue with the supply side and academic stakeholders to understand the constraints and possibilities. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2018.

Toolkit for assessing and reducing cyber risks in hospitals and care centres to protect privacy/data/infrastructures

Digital technologies such as Big data, Internet of Things, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, High Performance Computing, Cloud and Cybersecurity offer new opportunities to transform healthcare systems and delivery, Connected medical devices, in particular if linked to Clinical Information Systems, can bring increased patient safety and efficiency into healthcare system(s). However, ICT infrastructures and data have become critical for the functioning of the hospitals and care systems and due to increasing connectivity, the exposure to risks of cyber-crime is constantly increasing. Healthcare ICT infrastructures are now considered to be part of the Critical Information Infrastructure. Cyberattacks are a potential danger to the safety of patients and to the privacy of sensitive health data. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2018.

Support to a Digital Health and Care Innovation initiative in the context of Digital Single Market strategy

The Communication on the mid-term review of the implementation of the Digital Single Market Strategy (COM(2017)228) identified three priorities on digital transformation of health and care (DTHC): citizens' access to their data; data infrastructure; interaction between citizens and healthcare providers for better health management. That document indicated that specific measures would be elaborated in a dedicated Communication to be adopted in the months to follow.

Progressing significantly at EU scale on the referred priorities requires aligning the efforts of many relevant players across Europe, namely their efforts on research and innovation, in line with activities supported by H2020, as well as efforts on deployment, political coordination, stakeholder awareness and mobilisation, etc. Such coordinated European action on is already supported through various frameworks including the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA), the eHealth network of Member State representatives, the eHealth stakeholders group, the health and care activities under the Digitising European Industry platform and other. It is also the focus of actions under European programs including H2020 (notably its societal challenge 1), the Active and Assisted Living Joint Programme, the IMI and ECSEL Joint Undertakings and the Knowledge and Innovation Community on Health from the European Institute of Technology. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2018.

Supporting investment in smart living environments for ageing well through certification

The building stock in Europe today is not fit to support a shift from institutional care to the home-based independent living model for the ageing population.

There is a recognised need to facilitate the development of community-based services and to stimulate the emergence of "age-friendly home" conversions. These homes should enable independent living and remote health monitoring to the growing ageing population. In addition to physical / spatial alterations, making homes age-friendly should include upgrading existing ICT infrastructure to support digital services for independent living and connected and integrated care including telehealth and telecare, as well as solutions supporting health status and healthy lifestyle (e.g. sensor based physiological measurements, mHealth apps, telepresence, robotics supported living). Ideally, these ICT upgrades for independent living and health status management could be combined with the needs related to energy-efficiency, security, and entertainment.

Despite its proven potential for systemic change, large-scale investment (both public and private) in sustainable homes still faces barriers, often caused by insecurity about personal, societal and financial returns on investment and a lack of clarity about concrete elements of sustainable age-friendly living environments and the choice of building, retrofitting and adaptation measures to be implemented.

Coordination and support is needed to develop a sound basis for safe investment decisions in smart age-friendly, adaptable living environments made by procurers, public authorities, industry and citizens. The deadline for submmitting proposals is 24 April 2018.