IDIH

International Digital Health Cooperation for Preventive, Integrated, Independent and Inclusive Living

IDIH Project

International cooperation and digital transformation – key elements to tackle the challenge of rapidly ageing populations.

What is IDIH?

IDIH – International Digital Health Cooperation for Preventive, Integrated, Independent and Inclusive Living is a project funded under the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, bringing together prominent organisations from EU and five Strategic Partner Countries, i.e. Canada, China, Japan, South Korea and the USA with the aim to promote and increase international collaboration to advance digital health to support active and healthy ageing through innovation.

The effective use of digital technologies (ICT) to support independent and quality lives for older people is a long standing and very promising quest that, however, still has to unleash its full potential. Digital technologies can be deployed as solutions in various research and innovation areas and can substantially support health care worldwide. They can be tools to tackle isolation and provide care and assistance for the elderly.

IDIH - International cooperation and digital transformation – key elements to tackle the challenge of rapidly ageing populations.

Academia and industry are continuously creating solutions in different technology and market application areas, such as smart homes, social inclusion and support tools for carers. Yet, several barriers, such as scarcity of open and interoperable solutions, insufficient involvement of elderly people in the conception and design of relevant products and services and the lack of affordable, commercially viable solutions, are still limiting the impact that ICT could bring into the arena. In general, the search for successful and replicable business models is still open.

IDIH Vision

IDIH aims to support and improve international collaboration on Research, Development and Innovation, for leveraging new developments in the field of effective use of digital technologies (ICT) to create a Digital Health Transformation Forum.

The Digital Health Transformation Forum will:

Create benefit with new and vast sources of data,
Allow a better connectivity among the involved actors,
Support independent and quality lives for elderly people,
Enable elderly people to better interact with relevant institutions.

As such, IDIH aims to contribute to the provision of better targeted solutions , that focus costly resources when and where they are actually needed, ultimately reducing costs for the end user, public administrations and the industry and society as a whole. Sharing experiences, innovative approaches and best practices will be key to accelerate the progress of individual regions in tackling their own challenges.

Where does it start? We are convinced it starts with placing patients at the centre of health services and promoting their engagement in co-producing their own health.