AAATE aims to advance Assistive Technology in Europe. Given the demographic developments the potential of technology is increasing. There is a wide variety of technology available to be applied in many applications supporting not only individuals with a disability in their daily life and independence but also supporting the people providing care. Advancing these technologies therefore focuses on development of applications and implementing them.  Directly or indirectly this must mean that European citizens will have access to suitable AT and  are in the position to put this AT to effective use in their daily live.
These barriers have had implications for research and development of AT in order to develop AT that will actually contribute to the quality of life of European citizens . We like to provide the opportunity for the AAATE community to share their expertise, what has been achieved and what is further needed to advance the position of AT in Europe. In spite of major progress in technical aids, virtual environments, there is still very much to achieve. An important reason is that Society is changing and people are changing in how they behave, what they think and what they find acceptable.
For the AAATE 2011 conference this theme was selected as guiding the program and supporting activities throughout the conference.
The next bi-annual AAATE conference will be held at Maastricht from August 31 until September 2. Venue: the Maastricht Exposition and Conference Center (MECC). Focal Meditech is a sponsor of this congress and will be exhibiting its product at the Exposition. Focal’s R&D department shared in the development of the scientific program. The program of the Conference is exciting for all those who are interested in recent developments in this field. For more information see: www.aaate2011.eu .