On May 26–27, 2025, partners of the European ACE project (Accelerating Innovation in Home Care), including Biotech Santé Bretagne, gathered in Vesthimmerland, Denmark, for a strategic working meeting. The goal: assess project progress and share key learnings from ongoing pilot initiatives, all within a dynamic, cross-border collaboration. Gorenka Bojadzija Savic, European project officer at Biotech Santé Bretagne, took an active part in the discussions.
Pilot Projects Driving Innovation
One of the core focuses of the meeting was to review the 12 pilot projects currently being deployed in partner regions. These initiatives are testing innovative solutions under real-life conditions to improve the daily lives of both care professionals and recipients. These include digital care coordination tools, connected sensors, robotic assistance, exoskeletons, and AI-based planning systems.
Among the upcoming pilots is a project in Denmark involving OSO-AI, a company from Bretagne specializing in sound-based monitoring technologies for patient care.
Beyond the technology itself, ACE places strong emphasis on real-world integration. A shared commitment across the partnership: innovation must reduce the workload of care professionals—not add to it.
Key Insights from the Field
Discussions among the 11 pilot project coordinators, supported by collective analysis, brought to light several success factors and key areas of attention:
- Trust and human relationships are essential: Projects thrive on strong interpersonal connections.
- Simplicity drives adoption: Intuitive, easy-to-maintain solutions are more readily integrated into daily care routines.
- Structured support is critical: Ongoing coordination, guidance, and follow-up help projects stay on track.
- Persistent barriers remain: Time constraints, limited resources, regulatory challenges, and differences between national systems complicate implementation.
- A shift in public procurement mindsets: Some partners are now placing more value on the data generated by solutions than on the tools themselves.
Toward Sustainable Implementation of Home Care Innovation
Another major discussion focused on the systemic changes needed for sustainable, long-term innovation. Through workshops and surveys, the ACE consortium is gathering feedback from frontline professionals to identify key adjustments in organisation, training, and funding.
This participatory approach aims to move beyond one-off pilots and foster a system-wide transformation of home care services. The ambition: to deliver innovative, practical, and lasting solutions.
The Danish “Living Lab” Example
Participants also discovered the living lab model developed by the Vesthimmerland municipality—a collaborative approach where healthcare professionals, citizens, SMEs, and policymakers co-create and test solutions in real-life settings. This model addresses a common challenge: the purchase of technologies that end up unused. By involving end-users from the start and throughout the process, Vesthimmerland ensures that innovations genuinely meet local needs.
A Shared Vision for the Future of Home Care
To conclude the meeting, partners outlined ACE’s strategic deliverables, framed around one key question: What should home care look like by 2030?
Several guiding themes emerged: person-centered care, technology that empowers independence, and sustainable service models that respect the dignity and needs of older adults.
These discussions reflect ACE’s overarching objective—to move beyond isolated pilots and foster a system-level transformation grounded in real-world needs, for the benefit of both professionals and the people they care for.
Join the ACE Community!
💡 Are you developing an innovative solution for home care? Looking to test or scale it across Europe?
Join the ACE Community Platform today – a free, open space designed to accelerate high-impact projects. Connect with a dynamic ecosystem of healthcare providers, public authorities, businesses, and committed stakeholders working together to transform home care and enhance quality of life for care recipients.
👉 Learn more and join the platform: www.interregnorthsea.eu/ace/ace-community-platform
Published on 05/06/2025
