The beginning of the 21st century is undoubtedly marked by the emergence of the Internet and new technologies. These have been a driving force that has accelerated the transformation of today's world, which has led to the emergence of new social challenges; but also tools to address them.
For this reason, Suara Cooperativa has created the Social Digital Lab, a laboratory for social innovation, co-creation and inter-cooperation, in which the organization, together with other public and private entities, universities, technology centers, administrations and citizens, explores different technological solutions to respond to the needs of different people.
"We must be able to work together with administrations, collaboratively with universities that provide us with knowledge, and with start-ups and technology companies, which help us to create and design technological proposals," explains Jordi Picas, director of the communication area of Suara Cooperativa.
However, these co-creation processes go beyond the public or private sector and also involve citizens. This philosophy is shared by Guillem Alenya, director and researcher at the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC). "Innovation and technology must be at the service of people, and for this to be possible, both users and caregivers must have a relevant role in deciding how this technology is used," Alenya explains.
One of Suara Cooperativa's main lines of action is the accompaniment of people who reach the last stage of life and, therefore, have lost part of their cognitive or physical abilities as a result of aging or illness. It is in this context that it is collaborating with the UPC on a project that aims to enable sensors in homes to alert caregivers, whether professional or not, if the person they live with has suffered a fall, is at risk or has changed their behavior patterns, which could indicate cognitive or physical deterioration.
However, this is not the only challenge posed by aging. As Suara Cooperativa has detected, another challenge is to combat unwanted loneliness. With this objective in mind, the organization has created the Casal Online which, through a device that is installed on a television, connects people who cannot move from home so that they can interact with each other or participate in workshops or fitness classes.
For Ana Simón, manager of Disruption and International Connection at ACCIÓ, it is a tool that is easy to use. "It is a very interesting case of how to use technology in the service of social care," she emphasizes.
Also for this purpose, as well as to improve the accompaniment of people who require home care, Social Digital Lab has worked with the company Yasyt Robotics. "Technology has arrived to transform health and social care and help us families and caregivers, both professional and non-professional, to take care of people," specifies the executive director and founder of the robotics form, Núria Infiesta.
Tools like these, explains Barbara Outeiro, head of innovation at Suara Cooperativa, seek to ensure that people have a dignified aging in their own home. "These new technologies are here to stay and I think the Social Digital Lab is tracting all these challenges that are fundamental for social care and people in general," Outeiro concludes.
