ICE-T - International Centre of Excellence in Telecare

24 Sep 2009

ICE-T - International Centre of Excellence in Telecare - was launched on Monday 7th September at the British Science Festival by SEHTA and SEEDA.

The speakers were

• Dr David Parry, CEO, SEHTA
• Ann Johnstone, Head of Innovation Policy, South East England Development Agency
• Adrian Flowerday, Managing Director, Docobo
• Dr Richard Curry, E-Health Development Director, SEHTA and Senior Scientific Advisor, DH R&D Programme
• Adam Oliver, Head Of Corporate Social Responsibility and Age & Disability Research Programmes, BT Innovate And Design
• Dr Peter van Manen, Managing Director, McLaren Electronic Systems Limited

SEHTA also hosted ‘Technology Cares’, a showcase exhibition of state-of-the-art telecare technologies. The day concluded with a public debate entitled ‘Looking after Granny in the 21st Century’ chaired by BBC Radio Four’s The Material World presenter Quentin Cooper. The debate was one of the British Science Festival’s most popular events and saw a panel of experts and the public audience discussing people’s expectations of technology in supporting health, care and independence.

ICE-T will create three action research showcase sites across South East England to promote and support the development of telecare and the remote delivery of health and care. The three centres of excellence are to be located at the University of Southampton, the Kent Science Park in Sittingbourne and the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and are being supported by McLaren, the automotive and racing technology company, and a number of international telephony companies.

Ann Johnstone, Head of Innovation Policy at SEEDA, says: “These three centres of excellence will enable businesses, universities and hospitals undertaking research to work together to address and create solutions to this very real challenge”.  

“South East England has a large number of companies operating in this field from small technology businesses to large global communications companies.  This activity will help position the South East as a global leader in the development of telecare and the remote delivery of health care.”

Docobo, based in Bookham in Surrey, is one such company that will benefit from the introduction of these centres of excellence.  Founded in 2001 and with 18 employees, Docobo works with individuals with chronic long term illnesses and their care providers.  The company has developed a technology platform and product that enables health care professionals to monitor a patient’s condition in their own home, resulting in less frequent hospital visits.

Adrian Flowerday says: “The creation of these three centres is excellent news for a company like Docobo.  It allows us to put our technology into a realistic setting and work alongside other large and small companies that normally would be beyond our reach.  It will also enable us to showcase our technology, which is already being used extensively, to a much larger audience.”

Each of the three centres of excellence will focus and build a body of expertise on a specific field of telecare. The Kent Science Park will address managed environments including private care homes and the domiciliary care market.  The University of Southampton will focus on the workplace, looking at technology that supports people in the workplace or returning to work.  The National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital will work with fragile individuals and communities in the home setting.

ICE-T will provide support and seed funding to projects developing innovative telecare products and services and facilitate the formation of collaborative project consortia. ICE-T will develop new sustainable business opportunities by identifying and understanding user need, through open innovation and facilitated workshops.

Join us at future open innovation workshops - help us identify specific industry needs.

For more information on SEHTA and Telecare please click here or contact