The Whole System Demonstrator programme was set up by the UK Department of Health to show just what telehealth and telecare is capable of. To provide a clear evidence base to support important investment decisions and show how the technology supports people to live independently, take control and be responsible for their own health and care.

In a time of crisis healthcare budgets are increasingly coming under pressure, and many argue that cuts in this sector could increase both inefficiency and inequality, leading to serious social problems in the future.

ICT research is dramatically changing the possibilities open to people as diverse as victims of brain injuries and video game makers. Partners from Hollywood to hospitals are now reaping the benefits of this EU-funded research. Forty-five of Europe's best ICT research projects are on exhibition the EU's first Innovation Union Convention held in Brussels on 5-6 December 2011.

The European Commission has presented a package of measures to boost research, innovation and competitiveness in Europe. Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has announced Horizon 2020, an €80 billion programme for investment in research and innovation.

Promote access to finance and encouraging an entrepreneurial culture, including the creation of new enterprises are the core issues of the new financial support programme, tabled by the European Commission in Brussels.

p-medicine project, launched in February this year, is a 4-year Integrated project aiming at developing a new and state-of-the-art IT platform for personalized medicine. The researchers elaborated the first deliverables according to the agreed 'Description of Work', they identified and described motivated use case scenarios by underlining the p-medicine platform's end user needs and requirements.

EU-funded researchers from Germany, Italy, Israel and the UK have achieved a breakthrough development in robotic neurosurgery. The ROBOCAST project, has developed a new type of robot that gives two important advantages to surgeons: