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The project “Smart Service Power”, in which the Fraunhofer-inHaus-Center took part as a partner, has been awarded the DC Information Society Prize 2017 by the Diplomatic Council (DC) – a global think tank and consultant of the United Nations facilitating bridge building between diplomacy, economy and society. Dr. Bettina Horster (board member of the VIVAI Software AG in Dortmund and project director of “Smart Service Power”) and Michaela Bonan (project director of “Nordwärts” and “Smart City Dortmund”) accepted the prize together from Hang Nguyen, secretary general of the Diplomatic Council in Frankfurt.

This award is combined with the nomination for the “World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prize 2017” of the United Nations. With this award the DC recognizes projects in information and communication technology which contribute prominently to the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agreed upon in the last UN general assembly.

What is the project about?

“Smart Service Power” deals with age-appropriate, technology assisted service living in the district and is within the EU unique. In the joint project functions from the areas of E-Health, Smart Home, AAL (Ambient Assisted Living), emergency call systems, care and concierge services are being integrated und the networked data of the user are analyzes using algorithms. This way, the person’s needs can be derived context-based, and intelligent services can be offered automatically. The human being, especially the needs of the residents and the care staff, are the main focus (care 4.0).

In the model regions Dortmund and Arnsberg Smart Service Power is going to build a platform which “gives senior citizens more self-responsibility and an increased well-being and allows for a prolonged stay in their own home”, Dr. Bettina Horster is certain.

Besides the Fraunhofer-inHaus-Center, the core team of the project consists of the VIVAI Software AG (consortium leadership), the Fachhochschule Dortmund, DOGEWO 21, the nursing service Hübenthal Dortmund and the InHaus GmbH, Duisburg. Associated partners are the cities Dortmund and Arnsberg, Trilux GmbH, Barmer GEK and AXA Insurance, architects Schamp & Schmalöer as well as Smart Home Deutschland e. V. and the Internet Society eco e. V. The project is supported by the EU (European Regional Development Fund) and the State of NRW.

As of late there are new paintings from the painter Ursula Woite in the Fraunhofer-inHaus-Center and visitors and employees can enjoy the pictures from now on.

Mrs. Woite already presented her series of landscapes in Spain, France and the ministry in Wiesbaden in solo exhibitions. In the interview the artist from Düsseldorf let us know that she “is fascinated with experimenting” since she has been 15 years old. Also, she loves to paint in series which you can also see in the inHaus-Center. The most important thing for her are the colors, because they not only show her individual art style, but also “the palette is inside of her”. And even though there lie several years between many paintings, the colors are often very similar. Therefore it was especially difficult for Mrs. Woite to implement the given color concept of the inHaus-Center. She accepted the challenge with a lot of creativity and realized the concept in combination with her personal style. Her joy and spontaneity are visible in every piece. And that is what counts for her: “I couldn’t be without painting” and “I don’t do anything that I don’t have fun doing”.

Which subjects are going to play a central role in the F+E work in NRW? What do you associate with the work of the Fraunhofer institutes in NRW and the Ruhr area? We spoke to Minister Hannelore Kraft about these and other exciting subjects regarding the researchlandscape NRW.

To the interview

The program of the 7^th inHaus-Forum “When technology helps healing – doctors between web therapy, apps and wearables”: a combination of exciting presentations and an innovative workshop part in which the participants could contribute creatively was offered to the nearly 90 participants that came together on November 23^rd in Duisburg.

Wearables and Apps move forward into our lives. Small smart watches, glasses or textiles collect body data and therefore enable analysis of personal lifestyle and health. The movement is called Quantified Self and is taking over our everyday life. In four years, 220 million wearables are supposed to be sold and develop a market equivalent to that of a tablet or iPhone. Today, accordingy to Bitkom, a third of all Germans are using fitness bracelets or apps. And there’s going to be a lot more in the future.

Thus, the day was dedicated to health. Due to demographic change, an increasing number of chronic illnesses and the growing need for a healthy, vital and active life, the health sector is one of the biggest growth markets worldwide. The development is moving away from acute patient care to a coordinated patient centred treatment. That is why doctors, hospitals and health care facilities need a precise concept to take the step into the web successfully. How do you perform a successful web therapy? Which sensor technology can be used in which way for patients and applications? How do you handle the tracked patient data in the right way? And in which form can the vital parameters processed in the practice and hospital process?

These and other fascinating questions and aspects of “healing technology” and “portable health provision” have been discussed by the participants in the thematically differently oriented workshops in which the creative and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas for the development of new solution approaches, project suggestions and product innovations was at the forefront.

In the following pitch, the results were presented to all participants. Hence, the ideas could be discussed and developed further in the whole group.