Learnings

Start with the core: value creation
As in other industries with the use of ITC in the care sector its core increasingly came out of sight. A tool implemented to support the value creation process of the care system2 became a tool to serve administrative services and, in the end, a monstruous leviathan that serves overwhelming regulations and swallows ever more organisational energy. It seems the genuine value creation process, the care itself, became an unfortunately unavoidable side effect of the care system's administration.

Even though Innoclusion has been a European or at least a bi-national endeavour here we focus on the current situation and what led to it in Germany for two reasons: Firstly as Germans we have first-hand knowledge primarily about the developments concerning the German social system and, secondly, its long history and complex setup highlight the typical problems of a brown field transformation as if under a magnifying glass.

Technology is already an integral part of the caring system in most European countries. And it will become systemically important in no time at all. The reasons are manyfold. Most families live in a state of geographical separation. The situation on a remote and more and more depopulated island like Lastovo is also in this regard on one hand extreme as well as symptomatic on the other.

At least in Germany most Living Labs have been built as part of academic and scientific institutions. In many cases the aim was making scientists understand that there is a world outside of their lab that does not work under thoroughly controlled conditions. Often, additionally ordinary citizens should learn about the meaning and value of scientific work.

The common European market is nothing but a myth. National, in Germany even subnational regulations prevent start-ups to scale-up their businesses across Europe. This is particularly the case in the social and - often interconnected - health sector. Here not only differences in civil, trade, labour, company, and tax law (e.g.) have to be considered, but also totally different social welfare systems with different rules, and regulations, and procedures for remuneration. And regulation is just one aspect. Language and culture may be barriers even harder to overcome. That you may need a lot of time to even understand the peculiarities of given market abroad comes on top.

The EU claims to be a „Europe of nations“ or moreover a „Europe of regions“. As far as this reflects the richness that arises from a broad spectrum of cultural diversity and a high level of national sovereignty, this could be imagined as quite charming.

With Innoclusion we evaluated innovative solutions that are necessary to provide good care for the elderly and support people with disabilities well. Overall, it is about a better inclusion, a better integration of vulnerable groups into our modern, performance oriented, sometimes streamlined societies.

Everyone is crying out for innovation. But, to be honest, so what? Or, better yet, why?
The answer on an abstract level (for systems theorists): The system environment is changing ever more rapidly, so we need innovations to enable the system to constantly adapt to the ever-changing conditions. This is maybe the case - or not. In any case, this statement will not be compelling enough to drive change longer than some 3 seconds if at all.