Another milestone in the digital and sustainable transformation of the healthcare industry: With the handover of the funding approval notices by Dr. Thomas Wilk, Regional President of the Cologne District Government, the innovation project “Care for sustainable Innovation” was officially launched. The project is supported with funding of around 3.16 million euros and a total investment volume of 3.8 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
With Care for sustainable Innovation, the Aachen region is setting new standards to develop and implement digital and sustainable solutions in the healthcare sector. The focus is on the targeted networking of universities, start-ups, and established companies. In these collaborations, innovations are developed that sustainably drive the transformation of the healthcare industry. The region thus becomes a dynamic experimental field where innovative ideas are developed, tested, and transformed into market-ready solutions.
Cross-Innovations as the key to future-proof solutions
The project centers on the targeted networking of universities, start-ups, and established companies to develop digital and sustainable innovations and put them into practice. The Aachen region thus becomes a testing ground where innovative approaches are tried out and transformed into market-ready solutions.
A special focus lies on so-called cross-innovations. These bring together experts from different sectors such as healthcare, circular economy, bioeconomy, mobility, and energy to develop innovative solutions at the interfaces of these fields. Regional potentials are identified and new ideas initiated in joint workshops.
The project deliberately sets impulses in telemedicine to ensure a future-proof medical supply for the region. At the same time, innovative approaches in the areas of artificial intelligence, robotics, medical technology, and digital assistance systems are promoted to sustainably improve healthcare.
Besides developing concrete innovations, building a regional governance structure is a key focus of the project. The goal is to systematically advance the digital and sustainable transformation and establish the Aachen region as a leading location for healthcare innovations in the long term.
A strong consortium
The project is carried by a consortium of regional actors. Led by the Aachen Region Association (RAZV) and the City of Aachen, eight more partners work to strengthen the innovation location Aachen region: the Städteregion Aachen, the Economic Development Corporation for the Heinsberg District GmbH, the University Hospital RWTH Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, digitalHUB Aachen e.V., MA&T Sell and Partner GmbH, MedLife e.V., and AGIT – Aachen Society for Innovation and Technology Transfer GmbH.
The innovation project “Care for sustainable Innovation” is funded within the framework of the funding call “Regio.NRW – Transformation” with funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and builds upon the results of the ERDF project “Care and Mobility Innovation.”