Alison Davis, NHS Kent and Medway?? Templar House, UK

Josu Xavier Llano – Hernaiz, Basque Countries, Spain

Giulio Antonini, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Italy

Ann-Mari Bartholdsson, Halland Region, Sweden

Rationale

The session will highlight regional strategies for end user involvement, funding schemes and network building, and will explore the links with the AAL Joint Program and the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing from the Regions point of view.

Although a growing number of pilots are deployed across Europe, which are able to give feedback about the real possibilities that AAL technology could provide, large-scale deployments remain scarce.

Identification of the barriers for innovation and of the ways regions could address those barriers is essential for the replication of best practices over all of Europe.

The objective of the session will be to gather representatives from the most advanced regions in terms of AAL pilots and to hear from them: what did they learn and what are the identified barriers, what are strategiesto overcome those barrier and how can interregional collaboration accelerate the innovation process. Of particular importance in this respect are: end user involvement, funding and networking.