Benidorm completes testing of an innovative AI project to detect the needs of elderly and vulnerable people

Benidorm City Council today presented the results of the pilot project "Telecare Benidorm. Internet of People," an innovative, non-invasive telecare project for the care of elderly and vulnerable people based on artificial intelligence and big data. With this project, the city once again serves as a laboratory for projects that improve the quality of life of its citizens and are scalable to other parts of the world. Mayor Toni Pérez presented the results of the initial tests carried out over the past five months this Wednesday, in an appearance also attended by Ana María Esparcia Bascuñán, a project user; Adrián Adell; and Román Almela and Vicente Porcar, representatives of the technology developers, IOTSENS and Global Energy & Trading (GET), respectively.

"Telecare Benidorm. Internet of People" is a project promoted by Benidorm City Council, with which the city once again becomes a benchmark. In this case, to "put technology at the service of care and people," as the mayor emphasised. As you may recall, the initiative began in 2023 with the support of the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI), the Valencian Institute for Research in Artificial Intelligence of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, and Hidraqua. Its development has had a budget of €135,000, co-financed by the City Council and the AVI.

Thirty users of the municipal telecare service participated in these pilot tests, and a total of 52 homes of people also assisted by the City Council were monitored to increase the sample size and accelerate the algorithm's learning curve. In these homes, intelligent monitoring of electricity and/or water meters was carried out to apply artificial intelligence to consumption analysis, detect and prevent emergencies, optimise social resources, and improve citizen well-being.

In this regard, the mayor emphasised that the system is capable of providing real-time consumption data and detecting deviations from the household's usual behaviour, such as a lack of activity for an estimated period of time, abnormal peaks, or changes in the user's usual consumption schedule. This generates smart alarms to activate municipal social care protocols and assist vulnerable individuals with any need or incident.

Over the five months in which the tool has been tested, 485 alarms were generated, of which 133 were due to deviations in usual consumption, and 20 successful social interventions were carried out. Furthermore, most anomalies were detected in an average time of less than 45 minutes, "a very valuable time that can often be vital for the user."

Given these data, Toni Pérez stated that this application "is one of the best and clearest examples of how to leverage technology to serve people," especially in a way that is "non-invasive and doesn't interfere with their daily lives, but provides a wealth of information, which is especially important in the case of older people living alone, who have the peace of mind of knowing that at the slightest alert they will be cared for and looked after."

The mayor also noted that this project, which won an award at the last edition of the Digital Tourist congress in the category of "Social, Environmental and Economic Tourism Sustainability," also "fits perfectly within the Commitment to Older People certification we received at Fitur from AENOR and reaffirms our commitment to the SDGs, especially number 17 'Partnerships for the Goals', involving the public administration and private operators with the common goal of seeking, designing, and testing innovative solutions for the well-being and quality of life of those who live here."

“A new era in telecare”

In this regard, Vicente Porcar, head of GET, defined this project as "the beginning of a new era in the field of telecare and care for the elderly" and emphasized that "its reach goes far beyond" our borders, since "on an international level, it is also a completely new tool." Therefore, he emphasized that Benidorm "in addition to being a leading tourist center, is also once again an international benchmark from a technological and personal care perspective" and predicted that "in a very short space of time, this project, which is part of the Benidorm City Council, will also be successfully exported to many other municipalities."

This is especially true considering that in Spain, there are almost 5.5 million single-person households, and of these, almost 2 million are single-person households over the age of 65, as the GET spokesperson pointed out. Ana María Esparcia Bascuñán, one of the users tested in the pilot program, shared her experience during these months while her home has been monitored. She explained that she, her daughters, and the rest of her family live in Benidorm, but she is the only person living in the home since she became a widow years ago, so "it gives me a lot of security to know that you can count on this help if you need it."

The mayor concluded by stating that “the intention of the City Council and this governing team is for the teleassistance project to remain and be fully implemented in Benidorm, expanding its reach and benefits,” and indicated that new applications of the project will be explored looking ahead to 2026.