The Pharaon project, which is part of the European Union's Horizon 2020 R&D program, aims to improve the aging conditions of the European population by integrating services, technological devices and tools that will be available through a digital platform. This digital environment will provide security, independence and greater capacity to the elderly population of European countries.
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak that has spread unstoppably across the globe, it has forced the Pharaon partners to make quick decisions to ensure the integrity and health of the people involved in the project.
The Pharaon project has suspended all face-to-face activities, including those involving elderly people in all its respective pilot studies in Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Communication between partners and pilot managers is being conducted virtually to ensure study continuity and mitigate possible delays.
Within the current difficulties, as a project focused on improving the living conditions of the elderly, Pharaon will make use of its capabilities to advance the project and thus mitigate the problems caused by this pandemic. Filippo Cavallo, project coordinator, puts it this way:
"The Pharaon project believes that this emergency situation could also be seen as a positive impetus to use digital"The Pharaon project believes that this emergency situation could also be seen as a positive impetus to use digital technologies in activities involving seniors and user organizations and to demonstrate the reliability of innovative and creative technology-based methodologies for requirements analysis and design services."
The Pharaon consortium recommends following the indications of the World Health Organization and the measures taken by the central government. And, of course, obtain reliable information from official sources.
