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Avante 2008, personal autonomy and quality of life from a different outlook
Publication date: 28th of April 2008
From the 5th to the 7th of June, Fira de Barcelona's new show, Avante 2008, will bring together around a hundred companies from sectors related to disability, dependency and improving quality of life in the Gran Via exhibition centre. The show will also provide the setting for important activities to promote the exchange of scientific know-how in the field of health care and welfare, as well as experiences of company management, cooperation with the Administration and social integration. The organisers expect over 12,000 professional visitors, delegates and users.
According to the director of Avante, Josep Antoni Llopart, “the show is of a multidisciplinary nature and will be an important driver of the economic development of sectors related to personal autonomy and quality of life”. In this sense, Avante 2008 will promote company cooperation, exchange of know-how and business, and will also become a platform for launching technological innovations to improve quality of life.
With a stands space of 7,000m2, exhibits at Avante will be divided into five areas: solutions, innovations and new medical technologies; care and specialist services; home and family, with products and equipment for improving autonomy, safety and quality of life; urban accessibility and mobility, with proposals to create unlimited, accessible and more comfortable surroundings; and life, society and company, with bodies which promote equal opportunities and the participation of elderly, dependent or disabled persons.
R+D+I Area
One of the main attractions will be the technological innovation and Networking space, the R+D+I Area, in which companies, technological development centres and universities will present products, applications and prototypes for use in the spheres of health, welfare and domestic care. Vodafone, Fik Advanlife, Global Health, the ONCE Foundation, the Carlos III University of Madrid, Polytechnic University of Catalonia and other companies and bodies will be participating in this area. Around twenty innovative technologies will be exhibited and a series of conferences will reveal the functionalities and applications of these solutions.
The show will also host the home intelligent exhibition “Hogar Avante” which recreates different rooms in a 110m2-apartment equipped with products and new technologies at the service of dependency, disability and quality of life. This project, coordinated by the Department of Technology Transfer of La Salle, currently has the cooperation of the ONCE Foundation, Vodafone, Fik Advanlife, Grohe, Oihana Pardo and Wissner Bosserhoff.
Side events
Avante 2008 will set the scene for important conferences congresses aimed at healthcare professionals, scientists, social-health workers, administration technicians, investors and other dependency and disability-related groups.The latest know-how on spinal cord injuries -new rehabilitation strategies and advances on future repair- will be the topic of the 20th Guttman Institute Technical Workshop on the 5th and 6th of June in Avante with the participation of basic, clinical and technological researchers from all over the world. On the 5th of June, the Guttmann institute will also organise a seminar on the results of recent research carried out in the framework of the BBVA Foundation Bio-Medicine Chair into non-invasive brain stimulation in neurorehabilitation and its application in clinical practice.
On the first day of the show, accreditation of the quality of welfare and dependency services will be the topic at an Edad&Vida Foundation workshop, which will analyse the accreditation trends and models of Autonomous Communities, as well as experiences in Japan, Germany and Great Britain. On the 6th of June, another Edad&Vida Foundation workshop on cooperation between the public sector and private initiative will respond to the new demands on welfare services required by the Dependency Law.
On the 5th and 6th of June, the Equipara Foundation and HSM will hold the First International Congress in Company and Disability. This event will analyse the current integration of disabled persons in SMEs and large companies and will provide an outlook on personnel management companies. It will also serve to debate the application regulation, to explain cases of other European and Latin American countries and to present strategies of integration through sport and culture. The R&D&I Area will provide the setting for various round tables on new technologies applied to dependency, mobility, medical image and standards, organised by Tic Salut. On the 6th of June, Turisme de Catalunya and Acces Turismo will organise a workshop to present a study and a guide on accessible tourism in Catalonia.
Qualified Visitors
Because of its exhibits and activities programme, Avante is of interest to investors, buyers and consumer motivators from sectors related to personal autonomy and quality of life. According to Josep Antoni Llopart, “we are looking for multidisciplinary visitors who lead to contacts and commercial synergies for the development of new technological and welfare projects: health professionals, care workers, social workers, traders of orthopaedic and technical aid materials, physiotherapists, architects and any professional whose activity contributes to improving people’s quality of life”. The show is also open to users with real needs and their families. Persons wishing to visit the show can register free of charge on the Visitor's Channel up to the 4th of June.
Barcelona, 28th of April 2008
Images at http://premsa.firabcn.es (2008 shows – Avante 2008)
Head of press: Maria Dolors Herranz
Contact telephoneo: 93 233 25 41
Email address: mdherranz@firabcn.es