Older people will represent 30% of the EU population by 2080
According to Eurostat data, the dependency ratio due to the total age forecast for 2080 will grow from 53.2% to 79.7%.
Care services for an aging population will cause an increase in the burden of social spending on people of working age.
The European Commission is developing projects such as ACTIVAGE to minimize the effects of the investment of the demographic pyramid through the development of technologies that favor a higher quality of life for our elderly.
Madrid, October 1st, 2018 – The impact of the ageing population in the European Union will reach its maximum levels in the coming decades. The increasingly low birth rate and the increase in life expectancy are transforming the age pyramid, forming a previously unprecedented type of society. The number of people in the working age is being reduced as the same time that the group of retired workers grows. This situation will worsen when the Baby Boom generation, those born until 1964, reaches 65 years old.
According to Eurostat, the percentage of working age population will decrease steadily until 2050. In that period and until 2080, older people will increase their percentage to represent 29.1% of the total population, almost 10% more than those registered in 2016. The progressive aging will stimulate a greater demand for specific services for this age range: it is expected that the dependency ratio for the total age ratio will increase from 53.2% to 79.7% in 2080.
This situation will have important socio-economic implications, opening a debate to reformulate the fiscal and administrative systems of the member countries. The service needs of an aging population will increase the burden of social spending on people of working age. To deal with this situation, the European Commission is developing projects such as ACTIVAGE, framed in its Horizon 2020 program.
The ACTIVAGE project (http://www.activageproject.eu/), launched in January 2017, aims to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the ‘Internet of Things’ technology and digital development to create new forms of assistance and monitoring of senior citizens, adapting their current environment to one of greater security for the elderly and their families. In this way, we seek to minimize the effects of the investment of the demographic pyramid through the development of technologies that favor a higher quality of life for our elderly.
In addition, the project seeks to involve other organizations, mainly SMEs and Startups, so that they can offer their technologies and products to the users of this large-scale pilot and benefit from the ACTIVAGE ecosystem.
Currently, and until October 31 the Open Call for submitting proposals is open. Through this initiative, the agency will distribute € 600,000 to 10 projects that frame its activity in the development of mature Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to stimulate and promote an active and healthy aging of the population. This call will allow the winners to validate their developments in real environments through projects with a duration of 12 months that will start in January 2019.
The participation of Greece in the ACTIVAGE project
The partners from Greece that participate in the European project ACTIVAGE are CERTH (https://www.certh.gr/) and ICCS (https://www.iccs.gr/) Research Institutes, the Municipality of Metamorphosis in Attica region, the Municipality of Pylaia-Hortiatis in Thessaloniki, ten municipalities of CitiesNet SA (Grevena, Ioannina, Karditsa, Katerini, Kozani, Lamia, Larissa, Veria, Volos, and Trikala in cooperation with e-trikala SA) as well as the IT companies of Gnomon Informatics SA and SWARCO Hellas.
You can find all the information and the necessary documents in order to submit your proposal in the following links: http://www.activageproject.eu/open-call/
Web: www.activageproject.eu
Mail: opencall@activageproject.eu