Reference Site Catalonia, in which the UB participates, receives an excellence award
The Reference Site Catalonia, a partnership in which the University of Barcelona takes part, received the highest award given by the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Living (EIP on AHA), an entity promoted by the European Commission to provide innovation and digital transformation in the field of active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Catalonia also received the special honor of excellence for its task and experience regarding active ageing and promote sustainable economic growth.
The Reference Site Catalonia, a partnership in which the University of Barcelona takes part, received the highest award given by the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Living (EIP on AHA), an entity promoted by the European Commission to provide innovation and digital transformation in the field of active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Catalonia also received the special honor of excellence for its task and experience regarding active ageing and promote sustainable economic growth.
Coordinated by TIC Salut Social Foundation from the Catalan Government, the Reference Site Catalonia is formed by the UB, as higher education and research center, IDIAP Jordi Gol, representing research applied to primary care, and Eurecat, as technological center. It gathers the fields of research and business tissue committed to technological and innovative development in health and social wellbeing.
In the 2019 call, the reference site status was given to 77 regional and local organizations, committed to invest in innovation applied to active ageing and to transfer this knowledge to the European area.
According to Domènec Espriu, vice-rector for Research, “the UB is strongly committed to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), one of them being on health and wellbeing. Guaranteeing an active and healthy ageing is a growing challenge in advanced societies, especially in our country, where life expectancy is very high, luckily”. “Doing so in an effective and sustainable way will require a constant use of new technologies, and this is the main objective in Reference Site Catalonia, now validated with the highest qualification”, notes Espriu. The vice-rector also says the UB has several powerful research groups working on aspects that touch on this problem. “They will continue to be at the service of this goalʼs progress, reinforcing cross-sectional aspects between the fields of ICT and health”, he concludes.
Josep Samitier, professor of Electronics at the UB and coordinator of the participation of the University in the Reference Site Catalonia, highlights this is “a relevant distinction because it consolidates the position of Catalonia among European regions, since in other editions it already got the highest qualification and now it gets a special mention”.
The University of Barcelona, through its teaching, research, and innovation activity on health and its relation with university hospitals, is strongly bonded to improve best practices in healthy ageing. “The UB leadership and participation as main member of EIT Health is another outstanding fact about its contribution to the proposal”, says Samitier.