Europe’s Ageing Population Will Be Staying Home

In a little more than 20 years, one-third of Europe’s population will be older than 65. There will be more than 22 million senior citizens, and none of them will want to go to the hospital or take up residency in an assisted living facility. That represents a huge opportunity for companies active in what has been called the ambient assisted living (AAL) sector.

AAL designates a range of intelligent assistance systems that enable people of a ripe old age to remain comfortably and safely at home. German industry is well positioned to be a market leader in this technology, according to Birgid Eberhardt, AAL spokesperson at the German Association for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (VDE). “Germany has an outstanding competitive position in the relevant technologies including electrical and medical engineering, automation, IT and microsystems, RFID, and robotics,” she says. Eberhardt is quoted in a press release issued today by the Compamed press office.

If you are interested in learning more about the opportunities within this sector, a good place to start is the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme. This European research and development programme was founded in 2007 and has received approximately €600 million in financial support thus far from the European Commission to develop digital products to improve the quality of life of Europe’s elderly population.

Tags: AAL, ageing population, Eberhardt, VDE