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. The day before the main event was 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 hackathon also took place over the
three days, with teams able to interact with a target audience of older 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. 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. Overall, there was a clear impression at the forum
that the new, more interactive format was well received. People liked the opportunity to contribute more to the sessions and appreciated the often open
www.projectsmagazine.eu.com
“Older people were able to
test and rate the solutions designed
specifically with them in mind”
and frank nature of the presentations that not only highlighted successes and solutions ready for exploitation, but exposed weaknesses and failures as well as, more importantly, a willingness to learn from them. People also appreciated the opportunity to contribute ideas
to sessions that not only helped
consolidate tried and tested methodologies but added to them. People felt they were making a difference. There was also a determination by those involved in
AAL projects to ensure a greater degree of end user involvement and more effective business planning within the current proposal structure, although there was also a significant groundswell of opinion that AAL should take a far more entrepreneurial approach, with shorter lead times, less bureaucracy, a focus on the idea rather than the process and a greater degree of business mentoring. The matchmaking opportunities were extremely
well received, with many delegates delighted with how the meetings went, the opportunities for real business they delivered and the speed and efficiency at which they were organised and processed. The hackathon too, was seen as a valuable innovation for the event and one that should be continued as a way of generating great ideas for the market and speeding up the process for getting those ideas funded for development. ★
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