The seventh edition of Silver Surfer was launched in June 2021, and the goal remains the same: to encourage businesses, project owners or healthcare professionals to put forward innovative ageing well initiatives. The national request for proposals is coordinated by Eurasanté, a business park and center of excellence in the Hauts-de-France region that is European in scope and is dedicated to research in biotechnology, health, and nutrition.
Five winning projects were selected from a pool of 50 submissions. These projects fall within the five focus areas of the RFP: mobility and accessibility, housing, assistance, digital technology, and health.
Online voting opened in October 2021. Over 1,800 seniors and health professionals took part.
The Cogaudio project led by the university hospital in Lille was their number one favorite. Its goal is to develop an outpatient hearing test device to assess hearing impairment in patients with no known history of deafness.
“In the Silver Economy, many projects fail because they don’t address a genuine need. Silver Surfer helps to promote and grow promising solutions, and to test them against the reality on the ground,” explains Alexandra Bertrand, a Silver Economy consultant at Eurasanté.
A panel of experts and institutional partners also selected four winners:
Coala is a technical smock designed to help caregivers move dependent patients. Its interior structure facilitates manual handling operations and can be enabled/disabled as required, and it features external handgrips to keep carer and patient safe.
Entoureo is an easy-to-use online platform that allows both carers and cared for to record information on the cared-for person’s daily routine, wishes, and life course.
Libre jusqu’au bout de sa vie is a digital platform based on an intelligent algorithm that measures differences in perception regarding respect for personal freedoms, the quality of life of residents, the quality of work life of employees, and the level of family trust.
Mediwat assesses a patient’s gait in less than five minutes, by means of a lumbar belt. This medical device targets health professionals who require quantitative data on a patient’s walking ability for diagnostic or follow-up purposes.
Silver Surfer is a national request for proposals funded to the amount of €600,000. A prize pot of €60,000 is split equally between all the winners, who are also offered support and advice from two ergonomics consultancies. Subsequently, strategic support, a place in a business incubator, additional financial assistance, and exposure at a trade show are also offered depending on individual needs.
The five winners will receive their awards at the AgeingFit business convention in Lille on March 1-2, 2022 (https://www.ageingfit-event.fr/)