Trondheim, Norway (17 July 2015) --- In the project “Third generation personal safety alarm” with Steinkjer council taking project responsibility, FourC will demonstrate how one can easily integrate end-user solutions from completely independent suppliers on one and the same home security system directed at the healthcare market. The project is worth in total €520K and is being conducted in cooperation with Trøndelag Forskning og Utvikling (“Trønderlag Research and Development”), Sikom, CTM Lyng, Trollhetta, Nice Industridesign and Regionalt Forskningsfond Midt.

 

A big problem with IT solutions for healthcare is a lack of use of open solutions. If a smart home automation solution has been purchased, it is today the case that either the supplier cannot add 3rd-party software at all or that a long, difficult and expensive integration process must be undertaken in which the software must be written in particular way to use the supplier’s API. This means that the solutions will typically be expensive and of poor quality, and that service and product innovation in the market sector is inhibited.

 

One of several headlines in the project will be the completely open home automation device which can integrate sofware from different suppliers without the demanding API customisations and without being tied to the producer of the device. FourC’s platform and cloud solution make this possible, while Sikom will produce the device itself. The other technology partners in the project will deliver the healthcare solutions they have for use in the home, together with building applications which commuicate with their devices via the platform. This also means that other and new suppliers can deploy their applications without them needing to be approved by the producer of the system and without the need for compatilibity testing together with the already-installed applications. This will create a “living laboratory” for healthcare applications in the home based on standardised technologies.

 

The project will in other words show how service and product innovation in healthcare can be done going forwards at a much higher tempo than one sees with today’s home automation systems. At the same time, such open solutions are in-line with political guidelines, which among other things recommend that one should avoid the “vendor lock-in” that accompanies today’s solutions.

 

“We have already launched our completely open and generalised IoT platform through a large R&D project in intelligent transport systems. Now we are customising this for healthcare and thereby unlocking a branch of production which has so far been characterised by closed solutions from specialised suppliers. This means that customers should expect stronger competition in solution delivery and with it lower prices”, said CEO of FourC AS, Tor Rune Skoglund.

The project is starting 1 September 2015 and will run for 3 years.

 

 

For more information contact:

 

Tor Rune Skoglund, CEO FourC AS

+47 72 55 99 00

trs at fourc dot eu

 

 

Link to the press release in PDF (English) (Norwegian)

 

Link to press coverage in Trønder-Avisa (Norwegian)