One of the projects participating in the ARCTIC PACER clustering project is @geing Online, funded by Interreg Botnia-Atlantica. Since September 2017, the partnership is working to promote access to meaningful digital and social activities among older people.
The goal of @geing Online is to develop knowledge about how innovative digital services enable a socially active life for older people to support their opportunities for maintaining social networks, relationships and activities. To achieve this objective, the partnership is co-creating and developing an online application for older adults.
The partners from Västerbotten (Sweden) and Österbotten and Södra Österbotten (Finland) understand the importance of involving end-users in the development of meaningful digital services. In that way, they closely collaborate with potential users, stakeholders working with older adults, researchers and business. The project involves regional SMEs in the IT industry to support their competence in the eHealth field and in familiarizing themselves with older adults as a customer group.
@geing Online also works towards an eco-system approach. Partners have arranged various meeting opportunities for regional SMEs to interact with regional organizations and actors in the health and social sectors where new eHealth tools could be integrated. In this way, they are supporting the longevity of the co-developed application in one or several organizations in the project region.
About the online application
Åbo Akademi University in Vaasa is coordinating the activities in collaboration with Umeå University and the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. Partners are further developing and testing the existing evidence-based prototypes in collaboration with end users, stakeholders and municipalities. The goal is to introduce a version of the completed application in their operations and further develop and disseminate it in the partner regions at project completion in December 2020.
The main financier of the project is the Interreg Botnia-Atlantica 2014-2020 program, together with Region Västerbotten, the Regional Council of Ostrobothnia and the three beneficiaries. The total budget of the project is EUR 860,000, of which EU funding is EUR 516 925.