Bringing eCare platforms to the market

ABSTRACT

Due to changes in the demographic situation of most Western European countries, interest in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-supported care services is growing fast. eCare services that foster better care information exchange, social involvement, lifestyle monitoring services, etc., offered via ICT platforms, integrated in the homes of the elderly are believed to be cost-effective. Additionally, they could lead to an increased quality of life of both care receiver and (in)formal caregiver.

Currently, adoption and integration of these eCare platforms (eCPs) is slowed down by several barriers such as unclear added value, a lack of regulations, or lack of sustainable financial models. In this work, the added value of eCPs is identified for the several involved key actors such as the care receiver, the (in)formal care providers, and the home care organizations. In a second step, several go-to-market strategies are formulated. Because the gap between the current way of providing home care and providing home care supported by a fully integrated eCP seems too big to bridge in one effort, a migration path is provided for stepwise integration and adoption of eCPs in the current way of home care provisioning.

KEYWORDS:

• eCare platform
• go-to market strategies
• multi-actor analysis
• value network analysis

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Funding

This research work was partially supported by the Concerted Research Actions grant for the research project: “High Potential Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial value creation: context influences, context interactions and context extension” (project code 01G03011) from the Ghent University and the NBB, National Bank Belgium. We acknowledge that part of this research was also supported by the iMinds Project OCareCloudS co-funded by the IWT, the iMinds and the following partners: Televic Healthcare, TPVision, Telecom IT, and Boone NV. We would also like to thank OCMW-Kortrijk, OCMW-Ghent, and Familiehulp for their cooperation in the project. Parts of this research are also realized within the Care4Balance project, which is part of the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP). This project has received funding from AAL JP, co-funded by the European Commission and national funding authorities of participant countries. The first author of this publication also has received funding from the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT).

Additional information

Funding

This research work was partially supported by the Concerted Research Actions grant for the research project: “High Potential Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial value creation: context influences, context interactions and context extension” (project code 01G03011) from the Ghent University and the NBB, National Bank Belgium. We acknowledge that part of this research was also supported by the iMinds Project OCareCloudS co-funded by the IWT, the iMinds and the following partners: Televic Healthcare, TPVision, Telecom IT, and Boone NV. We would also like to thank OCMW-Kortrijk, OCMW-Ghent, and Familiehulp for their cooperation in the project. Parts of this research are also realized within the Care4Balance project, which is part of the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP). This project has received funding from AAL JP, co-funded by the European Commission and national funding authorities of participant countries. The first author of this publication also has received funding from the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT).