Executive Summary


Executive summary focused on the plenary sessions


sound of murmuring from the large audience. “Society is in crisis,” said the Vice President of the European Commission with responsibility for the Digital Agenda. It was a stark assessment of Europe’s position but one that


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gave everyone a useful reminder of the political and societal context in which the AAL Joint Programme is working – there is a global financial crisis that threatens the economic stability of even the most robust economies, while at the same time there is a demographic movement towards a more elderly population in Europe, which requires a paradigm shift in the way we view ageing and also how we organise sustainable systems that make the process healthier and happier. Then, of course, we have to look at how we pay for that shift. In his welcome letter to the Forum, Antonio Tajani, Vice


President of the European Commission with responsibility for the Industry and Entrepreneurship, underlined that there is no growth without innovation! “And when I speak of Innovation,” he said, “I’m not only referring to Technological Innovation but also to a new concept of innovation, which includes the process, the design, the services and, particularly relevant for the AAL Forum, Social Innovation. Social Innovation could be a new service or a different organisational process, or it could be a radically new approach in providing services.” With these great challenges come great opportunities and


with that fundamental premise serving as a backdrop to the three-day Forum, it quickly became clear that among the gathering of industry stakeholders, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, end users, authority representatives and policy makers, there is an optimism that AAL is working and that it gives us the chance to foster both wealth and well being as we innovate towards a sustainable future for millions of citizens. AAL Association President Lena Gustafsson set the tone


for this when opening the Forum directly linking the need to innovate to meeting the financial challenges we face – innovation creates new jobs, supports business and, of course, supports older people. This she labelled as social innovation, the creation of tools and services for innovative social solutions.


www.aalforum.eu


s the first words of Neelie Kroes’ welcome video message to the 2011 AAL Forum, rang around the conference centre in Lecce, Italy, there was an audible


This has been a consistent message since the formation of


the AAL JP in 2008, but at this, its third annual Forum, things had changed. The message was clear - we have reached a turning point, a turning point that takes us beyond simply realising that we need to do something about our ageing population to a point where we have solutions, products, services and systems of care in place. It is a turning point that takes us beyond the research and technology push for these solutions and into a market pull for them. In short, the Forum marked a turning point in that it is clear that the AAL JP now needs to move from projects and results to delivering real impact. The big question, of course, is how we do this effectively; how can industry meet this demand and bring real products to market and what barriers must be brought down to make it happen? Perhaps one of the clearest calls to action in terms of


addressing these fundamental questions was the role of the public sector and its collective will to take up the innovation as it becomes available. This particularly relates to the provision of care and healthcare, which in most instances is delivered or coordinated by some form of public authority, and it was here that the “Triple Win” scenario was outlined by several keynote speakers. This refers to the notion that through social innovation we can achieve more sustainable care and healthcare systems that benefit the citizen, inject cost savings and efficiencies into the process that benefit the public purse and unlock commercial opportunity to develop the market that benefits business and industry, creates jobs and brings benefits to patients, carers and the social care and medical professions. There certainly is public sector buy-in to active and healthy


aging and the AAL’s approach to innovation, both at a policy- making level and at a regional governmental level. MEP Lambert Van Nistelrooij said that the European Parliament gave AAL a positive vote of confidence in that it brings together the best and then delivers. But, he said, it does need to deliver more and when it does, and the benefits are there for the end user to see, and the savings are there for the authority to make, then they will buy. To ensure this happens most effectively, it is vital that the


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