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This booklet intends to present the vision of the eHealth unit and of the past achievements in terms of projects financed by the European Commission.
The version presented on the web site corresponds to the edition of September 2002 and might be out-of-date with respect to project data of the last Call for Proposals.
(by Prof. Jean-Claude Healy, Head of Unit "Applications relating to Health")
The Fifth Framework Programme for Research, Development and Demonstration (FP5, 1998-2002, allocated funds: 14.96 billion Euro), which was approved by the European Parliament and the European Council in 1998, focuses within the IST Programme on research and development activities targeted at "societal problems and needs".
The area "Applications relating to Health" (allocated funds: 197 million Euro), which is part of Key Action 1 "Systems and Services for the Citizens" has clearly identified three main "societal needs":
Accordingly, a formal model has been developed depicted as a "Flower with 3 Petals" (see figure 1). Each petal is representative of the three main societal needs described above. In the centre of the flower are elements common to all three groups such as eEurope, info-ethics and legal regulation issues. Common strategic tasks include standardisation and certification, as well as implementation and exploitation of research results.
Figure 1, Flower Model – translating the societal needs into actions
The annual calls for proposals described in the work programme 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, launched through the Official Journal are based on this "flower model."
This present working document has been developed as a tool for information and a tool for action by the various groups concerned, namely researchers, technologists and industrialists, users and decision-makers at regional and national level, as well as European interest groups such as the EHTEL Association (www.ehtel.org) and various professional organisations.
The current 5th Framework Programme is a key milestone in the last ten years of research and development activities in the health domain. This research has succeeded in:
It is satisfying to see today that the "IST for health" - developed within the framework of the Information Society Programme - are the right technologies at the right time; they provide the right solutions to the demands of Member States and applicant countries and methods for improving their respective national health systems.
The competitiveness of the European Union in this domain will not be maintained without simultaneously creating clear and strong national plans for implementation and additional EU research initiatives.
Towards the 6th Framework Programme: following ten years of R&D activities in the domains of Information Technologies for Health, the trends are to move towards a "Knowledge For Health" approach. This knowledge is presently shared between:
We are ready to start the next ten years of R&D activities in the combined domain of "Biomedical Informatics" in order to promote the citizen centred-approach of "Integrated Intelligent Environment for Health".
I am confident that we will be able to continue this successful work into the 6th Framework Programme that is being prepared right now and will start in January 2003.
"Building the Technology Base for the Information Society"
The strategic objective of the IST programme is to realise the benefits for Europe of the Information Society, both by accelerating its emergence and by ensuring that the needs of individuals, businesses and society are met.
Due to tremendous advances in areas such as micro-electronics and broadband Internet technologies, the communication and computing are becoming ubiquitous. Progress in human machine interface technology increases the usability of the technology for the citizen and dramatically expands the application domain. An ‘ambient intelligence paradigm’ (‘having our surroundings act as the interface to a universe of integrated intelligent services’) that will revolutionise the world in which we live at the beginning of the 21st Century is emerging. Soon all objects whether around us, on us and even in us will be intelligent and able to communicate at our service and to our benefit.
As these changes take place, it must ensure that the Information Society developing is inclusive, for ALL. Key targets for this successful development therefore centre around ubiquity (to allow access anywhere and at anytime to services), user-friendliness, and include the creation of trust and confidence in technology.
The realisation of this vision presents many technical challenges, requires intense research co-operation by industry and the research community, and a strong direct linkage between technology development, applications and policy.
"Putting the Information Society at the Service of the Citizen Applications relating to Health"
Guided by this new paradigm research work carried out under the IST Programme in Key Action 1 ‘Systems and Services for the Citizen – Applications relating to Health’ aims at researching the technologies and applications that will fuel the future generation of IST systems for Health and their integration into places of work, home and leisure.
Research in the Information Society presents many opportunities to enhance the competitive position of Europe. It will bring major social and economic benefits and will contribute to the quality of life of individuals, whether at home, at work or on the move. For example, the number of avoidable deaths by cardiovascular disease could, in the same period, be brought down from 150,000 to 75,000. On the economic side, the health telematics market is expected to grow from less than 1% of the health expenditure in Europe to some 5% by 2005. This would make it a major industrial sector comparable to the pharmaceutical industry. More significantly, this will be achieved while containing the total cost of health.
Within the domain of Health, emphasis is on developing technologies for the seamless delivery of the best health care at the point of need. Equally, research explores how IST can help citizens with illness prevention and health promotion.
Other areas within KA1, such as the area of Persons with Special Needs is concentrating its efforts on developing an inclusive society, in which ALL can participate. In the field of Administrations there is a strong need to focus on smart government, exploring ways in which technology can support direct democracy. The area of Environment is researching how IST technology can be used to actively help manage the environment rather than merely monitor changes. In the domain of Transport and Tourism technologies for safety, security, comfort and the provision of efficient means of transport and of infrastructure are key.
Such research in applications builds on, and is consistent with, past activities in the Telematics Applications Programme (TAP) that was carried out in the 3rd and 4th Community RTD Framework Programmes. This research is essential for eEurope that aims to stimulate the broad adoption of such results in society.
Currently some 800 organisations, mainly from large and small industry, research centres, as well as universities, from over 35 countries carry out research or dissemination of research in some 134 projects.