INTRODUCTION


people, get advice from academics, trainers and entrepreneurs and then design a solution or product for the AAL market. This part of the Forum was very popular and attracted significant interest from delegates, while the winning team impressed everyone with their grasp of the challenge related to social isolation, the agility with which they blended that challenge with a commercial opportunity, and the speed and ambition with which they planned to get the solution to market. The hackathon also highlighted another key theme that was a focus of attention for many delegates - the need for intergenerational collaboration, involving young people in the development process. As always, the AAL award was also a key feature of the Forum, with


three projects impressing a packed plenary session with the quality of their pitching and the way they handled tough questioning by the judges, the audience and through social media, all live on stage. The session clearly demonstrated the need for projects to collaborate with the target market and to have a clear and sensible business plan in place from the start of development. While not the most exciting pitch, the winning project – VictoryaHome – picked up the €5,000 first prize by impressing the judges with their business plan, projected income and expenditure and the fact that they had taken their product so close to market so quickly.


and honest,” said one delegate. “A lot of things were mentioned and discussed that many projects and industries would not like to talk about. So there were many lessons to learn from the mistakes that were discussed, while the feedback from the audience provided solutions for avoiding mistakes in the future.” The exhibition of AAL solutions and products


was also a key part of the event, with projects and related industries able to demonstrate their products and services to a receptive and lively audience. September 22 was a day devoted to the demonstration of these products to a group of older people, who were able to test and rate first-hand the solutions designed specifically with them in mind. The exhibition floor also hosted digital


poster sessions, held over the two days throughout the coffee and lunch breaks to ensure maximum participation. Projects were given the opportunity to present their products, deliver a digital poster and answer questions from the floor. It was informal and relaxed and the posters remained available to view and interact with via iPads located in the poster area. The Forum’s first hackathon also took


place over the three days, with teams able to interact with a target audience of older


WWW.AALFORUM.EU | 5


“The emphasis was on open, honest discussion


that delivered clear outcomes and lessons”


An extremely well received innovation for the Forum 2015 were the


matchmaking opportunities provided by the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). Here delegates were able to advertise their requirements for cooperation and arrange quick meetings with appropriate people to set up further collaboration efforts. This Executive Summary provides an overview of the event from all key


perspectives – with reports from key sessions involving the end user, the investor and reaching the market. Opinion and analysis is also published from all tracks, from the awards, from the hackathon and from the exhibition floor. The publication also contains interviews with key stakeholders at the


event. This content provides valuable background insight into the variety of opinion, analysis, advice and strategies that exists for AAL as it is now and for the future, how the opportunities in the active and healthy ageing (AHA) market can be best exploited, what users expect, attracting investment, co-creation, and the increasing mindset that AAL should


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