Impact Jersey to launch £2m CareTech Challenge to support ageing Island population

Impact Jersey is to launch a £2 million grant programme.

The programme is aimed at encouraging businesses from Jersey and around the world to develop and deploy tech-driven solutions that address the health, independence and safety of Jersey’s ageing population, benefitting both carers and the people they care for.

The new programme – ‘CareTech Challenge – living independently through technology’ – will be launched formally this Summer, funded by Government and delivered by Digital Jersey. It will be the second initiative to be launched through Impact Jersey, following the first Open Programme last year.

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A total of up to £2 million will be awarded through the CareTech Challenge, which will look to award innovators who have developed solutions that can improve the lives of older people and deliver long-term high-quality care through the harnessing of new technology. In particular, applicants will need to demonstrate technologies that can:

• showcase and accelerate a proactive and preventative community care model
• reduce hospitalisations
• help people to live independently in their homes and stay connected to communities for longer
• improve the lives of older people and their carers

The programme is launched against a backdrop of significant demographic change in which the number of older individuals requiring long term care in Jersey is set to expand rapidly in the decades ahead. It is predicted that the number of islanders aged 65 and above will increase by 58% within the next 25 years, while by 2029 projections suggest the cost of caring for Jersey’s older citizens will outstrip the Government of Jersey’s Long Term Care Income.

The CareTech Challenge will be open to innovators, entrepreneurs, start-ups and established organisations based both in Jersey and overseas, with applications being assessed by an independent panel of five judges from on and off island.

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In developing the CareTech programme, the team at Digital Jersey has consulted with multiple stakeholders across the community including the charity and healthcare sectors, especially those who work closely with older people and their families in Jersey.

Commenting on the Impact Jersey CareTech Challenge, Tony Moretta, CEO of Digital Jersey, said: “We are excited to launch our second Impact Jersey programme, which builds on our successful Open Programme last year, to apply digital innovation to the specific and significant demographic and healthcare challenges Jersey is set to experience over the coming decades. This initiative provides a real opportunity to demonstrate how technology can address local challenges, prevent ill-health and social exclusion, maintain people’s independence and help alleviate pressure on Jersey’s health and care system.

“Of particular note is that, through this Challenge, we are deliberately facilitating international collaboration, by encouraging technology providers from across the globe to team up with local businesses and care providers to create impactful solutions for older people and carers in Jersey.”

Kirsten Morel, Minister for Sustainable Economic Development, added: “This is an exciting second programme for the Impact Jersey scheme that will create positive change for the long-term future of islanders. Impact Jersey is designed to help solve the biggest challenges we are facing as an island through digital technologies, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the innovative solutions that emerge from this Challenge and the value they can add to our community.”