EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Multiple choice answers were


available for each question and the session provided some surprising answers for the projects to consider when planning further commercial exploitation of their products. The afternoon opened with some


remarks from Louise Richardson, a former vice-president of AGE Platform. “Information flowing through the EU and into all countries will lead to better lives for older people,” she began. “Technology is now part of all our lives,” she continued. “So we have to innovate in this space using this technology – some will fail and others will succeed and this will help push things forward. What is clear though, is that we must take risks. “AAL is an interesting programme,”


she continued. “From a user perspective, we now have to make decisions based on the technology and its commercial potential. So the programme is bringing together people working on technologies, SMEs, policy makers and, of course, users, and together projects must produce products that are sellable to older people. Proposals must reflect this and must be commercial. “To be commercial, we must know


when developing the product whether or not potential buyers will actually spend their money on it. So we must work collaboratively, with older people and old people’s organisations. Older people need to be real participants and not just used to test products further on down the line.” Many AAL projects focus on


the needs of people with MCI and dementia and this session was designed to understand how different projects involve users, reflecting their wishes, desires and needs in the development of their solutions, how users have been involved in the testing of them and what business plans have been put in place to take the products to the relevant markets. The session was also designed to see if this approach had been successful


THE ELDERLY VOICE MATTERS Louise Richardson


I


n all AAL projects we have users who are participants, which is usually adequate and the AAL has made this part of the criteria for


participation in the programme. The question now is how can


we better get these people involved so that we can get valuable feedback on the products being developed and, more importantly, establish whether or not people are going to be willing to pay for them. We need to link in with the


“We need to establish


whether people are willing to pay for


the products being developed”


organisations who support and work with these types of people and to keep on building on the very basic theory that the voices of all elderly people, no matter what their mental or physical state is, are important. These voices are vital for the development of the right products and services we all need. The elderly have to see themselves as participants and all members of all AAL project consortia must also see them as participants and not simply as buyers. Projects must work with organisations involved with the elderly,


both formal and informal, community and institutional and make them understand that their voice matters


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