Published on 31-May-2011
Validated on 05 Dec 2012
"The monitoring network allows us to provide services with a human touch—but it’s now the right touch, at the right time." - City of Bolzano
Customer:
City of Bolzano
Industry:
Government
Deployment country:
Italy
Solution:
Selected Business Solution (sBS), C-Suite Framework, Optimizing IT, Smarter Planet
Smarter Planet:
Smarter Buildings, Smarter Cities, Smarter Healthcare, Smarter Public Safety
Overview
With a population of 103,679 and an average income of €34,400 per capita, the city of Bolzano ranks first in Italy in GDP per capita and is one of the richest cities in Europe. The offices of the city hall involved in the Abitare Sicuri-Sicheres Wohnen project are: the office of Mayor of Bolzano, Assessorate of Social Services (ASSB), Assessorate of Public Health. The project is also sponsored by the TIS Innovation Park, the Tyrol Sparkasse and is one of the “Ideas 2015,” the strategic development plan of the next year to come.
Business need:
Stagnant budgets and resources created new challenges for the city of Bolzano, whose growing number of elderly citizens already represents almost a quarter of the population. With ongoing medical advances, ever greater numbers of the elderly are living longer, and staying in their homes, often alone. The city wanted to ensure their safety and provide needed services, but it needed a cost-effective way to know when its people needed help.
Solution:
The city has implemented an advanced mesh-network of sensors that monitor the home environment—temperature, CO2, water leaks, etc.—of elderly citizens living alone. Additional home remote medical interaction with medical professionals via touch screens or mobile devices provides healthcare advice, saving trips to the doctor. The remote technology works with a little help from “angels” (relatives or friends of the user) who are alerted if there is a problem, and who provide assistance until the appropriate city services (maintenance or medical) arrive.
Benefits:
-Exemplifies a new model of social and health service that can operate on existing budgets and resources, even as the elderly population increases
-Provides a technological, but still human, system of care via the remote “angels”—the user can be independent, but not feel alone
-Enables social service and health staff to concentrate on people who really need a physical presence with them, while maintaining excellent quality of life for those in the monitoring program
Case Study
The City of Bolzano is the capital of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 103,679 and an average income of €34,400 per capita, the city of Bolzano ranks first in Italy in GDP per capita and is one of the richest cities in Europe. The quality of service is absolutely outstanding and the health and social services represent a reference for all over Europe. The offices of the city hall involved in the Abitare Sicuri-Sicheres Wohnen (in Italian and German because this territory is bilingual) project are: the office of Mayor of Bolzano, Assessorate of Social Services (ASSB), Assessorate of Public Health. The project is also sponsored by the TIS Innovation Park, the Tyrol Sparkasse and is one of the “Ideas 2015,” the strategic development plan of the next year to come.
The Opportunity
Stagnant budgets and resources created new challenges for the city of Bolzano, whose growing number of elderly citizens already represents almost a quarter of the population. With ongoing medical advances, ever greater numbers of the elderly are living longer, and staying in their homes, often alone. The city wanted to ensure their safety and provide needed services, but it needed a cost-effective way to know when its people needed help.
What Makes It Smarter
The city has implemented an advanced mesh-network of sensors that monitor the home environment—temperature, CO2, water leaks, etc.—of elderly citizens living alone. Additional home remote medical interaction with medical professionals via touch screens or mobile devices provides healthcare advice, saving trips to the doctor. The remote technology works with a little help from “angels” (relatives or friends of the user) who are alerted if there is a problem, and who provide assistance until the appropriate city services (maintenance or medical) arrive.
Real Business Results
- Exemplifies a new model of social and health service that can operate on existing budgets and resources, even as the elderly population increases
- Provides a technological, but still human, system of care via the remote “angels”—the user can be independent, but not feel alone
- Enables social service and health staff to concentrate on people who really need a physical presence with them, while maintaining excellent quality of life for those in the monitoring program
For more information
Please contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner. Visit us at: ibm.com/government
To learn more about City of Bolzano visit:
www.comune.bolzano.it/index_it.html
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Software:
DB2 DataPropagator, WebSphere Application Server
Service:
GBS Strategy and Change: Business Strategy
Legal Information
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