[aaloa supporters] The definition for AAL in the manifesto

[Mohammad-Reza Tazari]

Hi everybody,

comparing the three definitions below

1. citation from the manifesto:

    making smart use of technology to support well-being in the
    preferred living environment for people who might otherwise
    find this difficult (e.g. infirm or very elderly people who
    want to continue living in their own homes)

2. citation from "AALIANCE Ambient Assisted Living Roadmap", IOS
    Press, ISBN 978-1-60750-498-6, page viii:

    AAL refers to intelligent systems of assistance for a better,
    healthier and safer life in the preferred living environment
    and covers concepts, products and services that interlink
    and improve new technologies and the social environment.
    It aims at enhancing the quality of life (the physical, mental
    and social well-being) for everyone (with a focus on elder
    persons) in all stages of their life. AAL can help elder
    individuals to improve their quality of life, to stay
    healthier and to live longer, thus extending one’s active and
    creative participation in the community.

3. the scope of AAL Joint Programme as cited on page 4 of the
    above book:

    cultivating the development of innovative ICT-based products,
    services and systems for the process of ageing well at home,
    in the community and at work, therefore improving the quality
    of life, autonomy, the participation in social life, skills
    and the employability of elder people and reducing the costs
    of health and social care

AALOA's definition seems to be the most restrictive one by adding "for 
people who might otherwise find this difficult" as well as emphasizing 
just on home environment; this contradicts with both the R&D and the 
market perspectives in the same section of the manifesto, as well as 
with the vision of AAL spaces in the section following that. I do not 
like the phrase "making smart use of technology" either, as I don't know 
when the use of technology is smart and when not, AND it distracts from 
the more important (for AALOA) usage of "smart" in combinations like 
"smart environments".

I believe that we must keep this definition very short, because this 
definition is not part of the core message of the manifesto but just an 
obligation and hence must be kept as general as possible to avoid 
mistakes and / or discussions. I also believe that direct (or even 
indirect) citations would not match the style of the manifesto, either.

Hence, I just suggest to change it the following way:

    employing technology to support well-being for everyone in all
    situation of life, with a priority for people who might be hit
    more by need for assistance (e.g. infirm or very elderly people)

What do you think?

Regards,

-- Saied

Francesco Furfari wrote on 06-Sep-10 09:22:
> Hello to everybody,
>
> next days the Manifesto will be sent to the organizers of the AAL Forum
> (http://www.aalforum.eu/) to be attached to the material distributed to
> the forum attendees.
> To this end I produce a new version of the Manifesto (0.12):
> - I changed the butterfly with a free copyright image ( the "Aloa
> marginata" moth)
> - I used the term Subscribers instead of Signatories
> - I updated the list of subscribers.
>
> Please, I would ask you to check whether your name and affiliation is
> reported correctly, and of course to signal any other typos you may find.
>
> Best Regards,
> francesco
>
>
>
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