Building care robotics business and innovationecosystems – ERF2018 workshop reportby Marketta Niemelä & Helinä Melkas

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Agenda, 14 March 2018Introduction by the moderatorsPosition statements by

Dympna Casey, Professor, National University of Ireland GalwayAmit Kumar Pandey, Head Principal Scientist, SoftBank RoboticsLeire Martinez Beitia, Project Manager, Tecnalia

Group discussionsPresentations of group discussions' outcomes

Moderators from the ROSE project:Marketta Niemelä, VTT & Helinä Melkas, LUT (in collaboration with LeaHennala & Satu Pekkarinen, LUT)Graphic recording:Aino Sutinen

The ROSE project is funded by Academy of Finland, StrategicResearch Council (2015-2020).A multi-disciplinary consortium of six Finnish institutions (AaltoUniversity, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, LappeenrantaUniversity of Technology, University of Tampere, Tampere Universityof Technology, Laurea School of Applied Sciences)Research areas: Nursing science, Technology/Engineering,Sociology, Ethics, Innovation researchDifferent kinds of (care-related) robots and all the three levels ofsociety, services and individuals are studiedhttp://roseproject.aalto.fi/

Background and aims

There is lots of activity among robot technology providers in the care servicefield in different countries. Piloting of care robots in different useenvironments is underway.Companies recognize the business potential, but also face manychallenges.Companies should be seen as part of an ‘ecosystem’, where companiesand other actors cooperate, compete and co-create capabilities.The creation of an ‘ecosystem mindset’ will be important for the field of carerobotics in any country.This session contributes to building care robotics business and innovationecosystems from various points of view.

Notes on the presentations (1)

Professor Dympna Casey spoke about end-userperspectives, e.g. those of people suffering fromsevere dementiaUser-friendlyness of the technologies is vital;designing robots that can be personalized to thehealth and communication status of the individual.

Interaction between and regulation of the differenttechnologies in the home would be crucial, too.There are still many challenges, e.g. ethical andprivacy issues, negative attitudes and concerns.Research in the real world of practice (e.g. in noisyenvironments) needs to be conducted.See also the next slide. Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Notes on the presentations (2)

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Notes on the presentations (3)Amit Kumar Pandey, Head Principal Scientist, presented an industrial perspective.He introduced lessons learned from project work, such as the importance ofadjusting to the cultural backgrounds of elderly people.

He also highlighted the need to involve many kinds of stakeholders in networks,such as media, end-users, industry, insurance sector, academia.

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinenIllustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Notes on the presentations (4)Leire Martinez Beitia, ProjectManager, presented acompany support perspective,emphasizing the need to helpcompanies build ecosystems.Innovations have to deal withregulations and standards thatwere not defined with theinnovation in mind.There are various businessmodel related challenges; e.g.high price of robotic solutions,differences in healthcaresystems, lack of reimbursementpolicies at early stages.Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Group discussions

Questions discussed by the groups:What can be the role of international collaboration incultivating ecosystems?How to connect robotic care technologies, related servicesand service users better?

Notes on the group discussions:group 1

Group 1 discussed internationalcollaboration in cultivating ecosystems.Collaboration is vital, but transferring fromone market to another is problematic.Environments are diverse, and solutionshave to be localized.

Openness and understanding have to becultivated, especially between technicaland care professionals, at regional,national and global levels.

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Perspectives of Group 1

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Perspectives of Group 1

Group discussions: group 2

Group 2 discussed how to connect roboticcare technologies, related services andservice users better.Interaction and dialogue as well asexperiments and experiences (and theresulting feedback) were noted to becentral to overcome barriers.Ways of engaging users in actualdevelopment work need to be plannedcarefully.Bringing users in is always beneficial.

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Perspectives of Group 2

To connect technologies andservices better, there is a need totrain and educate careprofessionals to work with robots –education is a long-term solution.Technology may also make careprofessions more appealing.‘Interpreters’ are needed fortechnology – there is alsobusiness potential here.A welcome example wasbrought up of an engineer whohas also been working at a carehome.

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinenIllustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Perspectives of Group 2

To connect technologies andservice users better, we need todepart from needs of olderpeople.

What is actually the definition of arobot? Is a robot needed? Couldthe need be responded to withsome other technology? Arethere fears towards technology?

Users need to be met andunderstood (e.g. their differentdiseases).’Fit-for-purpose’ technology! ’Donot take too big bites.’

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Conclusions: some essential steps inbuilding care robotics ecosystems

Creating purpose for robot use and thoroughlocalization of solutionsSolving business model and regulation relatedchallengesEducating professionals in different fieldsGradually increasing exposure to robots; reducingconcernsEngaging with end-users (e.g. panels,happenings, videos to stimulate discussions);starting from their needsBuilding multi-faceted, wide and localizedecosystems that cherish true collaboration andknowledge sharing

Illustration: Aino Sutinen, @ainosutinen

Thank you for yourparticipation!

marketta.niemela@vtt.fi &helina.melkas@lut.fi