The Commission has published in the Official Journal of the European Union, on February 17th, 2009 Call for proposals AL-2009-2 under the work programme of the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Joint  Programme. This second Call for Proposals is focused on topic “ICT based solutions for Advancement of Social Interaction of Elderly People”.

The Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP) is a new joint research and development (R&D) funding activity by 24 European Member States and Associated States with the financial support of the European Community based on article 169 of the EC treaty. The most important activity under the AAL JP is the regular publication of AAL Calls for Proposals by the AAL association.

The core of the AAL Joint Programme is to provide innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) based solutions to elderly persons, which means innovative products, systems or services addressing identified wishes and needs of the end-users.

The objective of the second Call AL-2009-2 is to launch European collaborative projects providing innovative ICT based solutions aimed at helping people to be active, joyful and socially connected in the society as they age, from both a societal and personal perspective, effectively contributing to their health, overall quality of life and to social inclusion. The AAL Joint Programme calls for proposals with a clear European dimension, high relevance and maximum impact on progress in the fields described in the topic definition.

AAL collaborative projects should contribute to the creation of a European market through the development of open interfaces and interoperability, applying the relevant standards, norms and regulations in the European framework. The proposal should demonstrate that the necessary actions are identified for taking into account relevant national and European rules and regulations concerning ethical issues.

The proposed activities should ensure adequate respect for the individual end-user’s rights, such as self-determined private life, conscious (or consciously delegated) consent and dignity along with any other relevant ethical issues.

End-users in the AAL Joint Programme

• Primary end-user is the person who actually is using an AAL product or service, a single individual, "the well-being person". This group directly benefits from AAL by increased quality of life.
• Secondary end-users are persons or organisations directly being in contact with a primary end-user, such as formal and informal care persons, family members, friends, neighbours, care organisations and their representatives. This group benefits from AAL directly when using AAL products and services (at a primary end-user’s home or remote) and indirectly when the care needs of primary end-users are reduced.
• Tertiary end-users are such institutions and private or public organisations that are not directly in contact with AAL products and services, but who somehow contribute in organizing, paying or enabling them. This group includes the public sector service organizers, social security systems, insurance companies. Common to these is that their benefit from AAL comes from increased efficiency and effectiveness which result in saving expenses or by not having to increase expenses in the mid and long term.

Eligible Applicants, Budget and deadlines

The indicative total budget allocated to AAL-2009-2 Call for Proposals amounts for 60.9 M€. This amount includes a contribution of up to 23 M€ by the European Commission. Project budgets will range between 1 and 7 million €, being the maximum funding from the AAL Joint Programme up to 3 M€.

Consortia will be made up of at least 3 independent eligible organizations (legal entities), from at least 3 different AAL Partner States participating in the Call for Proposals.

Eligible for funding are only organisations that are explicitly included in the national eligibility criteria. It is highly recommended to consult with the AAL National Contact Point (NCP) prior to submission of a proposal.

The participation of organisations residing outside an AAL Partner State is restricted to organisations residing in a Member State of the European Union that currently does not participate in the AAL Joint Programme, i.e. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta and Slovak Republic.

Applicants should submit their proposals by May 5th, 2009. Pre-proposals checks may be sent by e-mail prior to April 5th, 2009.

Further details as well as relevant documents can be found at the the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Joint Programme website. Before February, 20th, information about a proposal submission tool, as well as partner search tool will be also available at this website.