The objective of the Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme (AAL JP) is to enhance the quality of life of older people and strengthen the industrial base in Europe through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

At the current stage, this Joint Programme finances 131 innovation projects across Europe in private public partnership involving SMEs, large enterprises, end-user organisations, universities and research institutions.

The objective of the AAL JP is that these projects enter the market with their solutions within 2 to 3 years after the end of the funding period.

However, bridging the gap between R&D&I and successful commercialisation of new products and services is a difficult task for our projects. Furthermore, in the interest of ensuring a positive impact of Joint Programmes, we need to avoid as much as possible investments that are not followed by concrete outcomes for end-users.

This tendering requires the provision of an action to support the projects of the AAL JP to reach the market with their ICT-based products, systems and services. The tender builds on a pilot "AAL2Business" action that was conducted in 2012; the outcome of this pilot action was presented at the AAL Forum 2012 in Eindhoven and is summarized in a final report accessible on http://www.aal-europe.eu/aal-2-business/.

An information meeting will be held on 21 May at 11h-12h in Brussels (office of AALA see above) to answer any questions on the Pre-qualification documents which have been forwarded in writing or are raised at the meeting. Minutes will be taken during the meeting and these will be sent — together with any clarification in response to written requests which are not addressed during the meeting. The candidates must cover all costs of attending this meeting.