Technology Strategy Board investment in new technology for
Assisted Living
18 March 2010
The Technology Strategy Board has signalled its commitment to
supporting innovation in assisted living by announcing it will
invest £6.5 million in six collaborative research and development
projects that will develop new technologies to help the elderly and
those with long-term health conditions.
The projects will address the need for health and care
technologies to embrace the changing telecommunications
environment. While many of the sensors that will be required for
remote health and care services are available now, the six research
and development projects will look to combine these with advanced
telecommunications and computing technologies, in order to address
the care and support needs of the 21st century.
The six projects will bring together the best of the UK's
expertise from over 50 organisations, including from industry, the
health and care professions, charities, local authorities and
universities. Bringing healthcare technologies, such as monitoring
devices and sensors, together with advanced communications
technologies would allow information to be communicated between
people and their health and care professionals quickly, and from
any location. For example, sensors could send someone's updated
health data direct to their healthcare provider, without the need
for a visit. Or a change in a patient's condition could be notified
instantly to their doctor, carer or to family members, whether or
not they are at home. Developing such technologies while ensuring
that the privacy of each user is protected is one of the key
challenges being addressed by each of the projects.
The public sector investment of £6.5m includes £1m from the
Department of Health National Institute for Health Research and
over £900,000 to participating universities from the Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The projects will last up to three years and are due to be
completed by 2012/13. This is the second major investment by the
Technology Strategy Board in innovative assisted living technology,
following an investment in 2008 of £5.5m in nine projects in the
area of 'User Centred Design'.
For more information on this project view the
Technology Strategy Board’s press release (pdf
document).