Ambient Assisted Living Conference (AAL FORUM 2011) confirms new speakers

New keynote speakers have been confirmed for the Ambient Assisted Living Conference (AAL FORUM 2011) taking place 26th–28th September this year. Lambert Van Nistelrooij, Olga Rivera, Rafael Bengoa will be joining the conference to discuss the five hot topics affecting the way forward for innovations for active and independent ageing.

European Parliament member, Lambert Van Nistelrroij, has been the co-chair of the AGE-Intergoup as a protagonist for the European Year on Active and Healthy Ageing. He is also a member of the Committee on Regional Development.

Speaking on ‘How can AAL solutions support social innovation?’ will be Prof. Rafael Bengoa, the Minister for Health and Consumer affairs of the Basque Government and professor at the ESADE Business School in Spain, and Dr. Olga Rivera, Deputy Minister for Quality, Research and Health Innovation at the Basque Government. They will be presenting a new policy from the Basque government aiming to change the way care is delivered using AAL solutions.

This year will see the first bestowing of the AAL Forum’s Award, established to recognise the project demonstrating great promise in terms of innovation, human-centric approaches to development and market potential. Participants will pitch their projects to the judges who will give positive and supportive feedback and pose questions about their experiences before deciding on the most promising project.

Crucial topics discussed this year include the Track B – Social Interaction. The aim is to bring projects together, discuss relevant findings and the solutions that could be developed from them, exchange experiences and learn from each other. This will include specific sessions on business opportunities and ethical issues. Also included will be Track C – Independence and participation in the ‘self-serve’ society, hoping to enable better cooperation and discussion between the Framework Programme (FP6/FP7) projects, the CIP projects and the nationally funded projects with the AAL JP project in order to highlight problems and ensure improved efficiency.

Click here for more information and to book your place.

Published: Monday, 19th September 2011 by Ellen Haggan