Members' Area
ES EN

On September 24, a conference discussion titled “Science, Technology, and Humanism: Social Innovation for a Complex World” was held, organized by the Social Welfare Department of the Adeje City Council.

Speakers included Ignacio Aizpún, General Director of ATAM, and Héctor Díez Caso, Director of Digital Transformation at ATAM and CEO of ViveLibre, who emphasized the role of technology in creating tools for the inclusion and social welfare of people with disabilities and their families.

Commitment to the Most Vulnerable

During his address, the mayor of Adeje highlighted the value of this collaboration and how the Alas Foundation, in synergy with ATAM, will expand the scope of services for people with special needs. “The combination of technology and humanism is key to facing the challenges of disability, and ATAM, with its over 50 years of experience, is the perfect partner on this journey,” said Rodríguez Fraga.

Innovation and Technology for Well-being

Ignacio Aizpún called for reflection on the evolution of technology and its impact on disability. He explained, “Technological advancement has improved our quality of life, but it has also created new forms of illness and dependency,” adding that between 5 and 10 new neurodegenerative diseases are discovered each year, increasing the need for innovative solutions in caring for people with disabilities.

ViveLibre: Technology Serving Autonomy

Héctor Díez Caso introduced the ViveLibre system as an innovative solution aimed at delaying the institutionalization of dependent individuals and promoting their autonomy at home. This service is based on the monitoring of health, safety, and social connection parameters, allowing people to live independently for longer.

ViveLibre’s multifactorial telecare service is being applied in an experimental project in more than 500 homes, providing personalized care based on real data. The CEO of ViveLibre highlighted that this technology not only helps improve quality of life but also provides users with the necessary tools to actively manage their health and well-being.

This collaboration between ATAM, the Adeje City Council, and the Alas Foundation represents a significant step towards a person-centered care model, where technology and humanism combine to create a more inclusive future for those living with disabilities.

On 25th October, the event organized by ATAM took place under the title SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND HUMANISM: Digital Transformation of social organizations.

The event was held at the Ciudad de la Imagen in Pozuelo de Alarcón, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of this social institution linked to Telefónica. Over 600 people attended the event. Among the attendees were numerous presidents, and executives from third social sector organizations, managers from the social and healthcare sector, social agents, technologists, healthcare professionals, and representatives from the most prominent patient organizations.

The conference was opened by Raquel Fernández, Director of People at Telefónica Spain, who highlighted the value of ATAM as Telefónica’s commitment to the most vulnerable for more than five decades.

Ignacio Aizpún, Director General of ATAM, reflected on the changes that have been taking place over the last fifty years because of the introduction of technology into our lives and the impact that the adoption of new lifestyles has on our health, a common thread running through the various speeches at the meeting.

Ricard Solé, an internationally renowned expert in the application of complexity sciences to the understanding of life, gave us a brilliant analysis of the way in which the technology we develop conditions our own reality, presenting the most cutting-edge advances in the field of biology and health sciences, and proposing future solutions to address the challenge of the sustainability of natural ecosystems.

Jim van Os is an acknowledged professor at the University of Utrecht and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In his speech, he presented a new paradigm of care for the mental health problems faced by today’s society in an environment of life transformed by technology.

Marta Bertolaso, professor of philosophy of science and human development at the University Campus Biomedico in Rome, taught us about the concept of intelligent systems, where true intelligence arises from the combination of the processing power of the machine and its combination with the interaction between humans.

Then, the development teams of the ATAM and ViveLibre clinical and technological innovation projects demonstrated in a truly inspiring way the attributes of a world-first technology that will underpin a new salutogenic paradigm of care for people with disabilities and elderly.

Finally, we attended a colloquium with representatives of patient organizations and scientific societies at European level who gave their views on the role of the application of technology as a vector for the transformation of social organizations.

Pedro Carrascal, Director General of the Platform of Patients’ Organizations, moderated the colloquium. Among the participants in this panel was Jim Crowe, who addressed the opportunity that digital technology represents for people with disabilities and explained the work of the European Association of Service Providers to People with Disabilities (EASPD) to promote innovation in the social sector, emphasizing the need to apply ethical criteria in the application of technology.  The talk also included the intervention of José Augusto García Navarro, president of the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology, who stressed the importance of evolving from a model based on the construction of residences to one based on home care. Finally, Nicola Bedlington, special advisor to the European Patients Forum, spoke on the significant work of patient advocacy organizations.