EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
shortening the gap between innovation and market and one he believes will help projects overcome these barriers. “I think the way that AAL should approach
money that was problem, but it was scaling up funding that was needed. “Once you have a product or prototype that works, how can you scale it up?” he used to ask. After speaking with delegates at the AAL
Forum 2015, however, Rajasekharan soon realised that maybe scaling up funding was not the issue here at all. “What I think is really needed are good teams that have great ideas, that have sweated it out already and have a real understanding of what the consumer demand is for their solution,” he now says. “These teams are not going to be necessarily looking for investment, but will be wanting to take their solution to the next stage.” He believes there are many barriers to
prevent the scaling up of AAL products, and they are not necessarily to do with money. “Often no one actually wants the product,” he says. “It’s gone through numerous focus groups, lots of testing with these groups over a year and a half or so and there is a business plan in place. But after three years, when the project is finished and they want to launch it, no one actually wants to buy it. “I believe the reason for
that is because often it has not actually been tested with real consumers but has been tested in a fabricated testing labs,” he continues. “And maybe these labs prove that the product works and people like it, but maybe these labs also simply provide projects with the answers they want? So when it goes out into the real world, nobody really wants it. This is a barrier to success for AAL products.” Rajasekharan identifies other barriers
for AAL products as well: “There are many things that hold up commercialisation,” he says. “Regulation and reimbursement, standardisation and the fragmented European market are just some.” He has a very clear mind about how AAL should be approaching this dilemma of
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this market is by stepping back and taking advantage of the community it has already developed. There are a lot of very talented people here, with great ideas, so let’s find the ideas and let’s give those with the best ideas the support they need, providing them with mentoring and advice,” he says, outlining his vision. “They will need help with meeting the consumers, testing their ideas
Shabs Rajasekharan speaks up at the second plenary session
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