15 March 2016, Dusseldorf / Hannover (CeBIT) – ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the German network operator, Telefónica Deutschland, and the Health Department of the City of Düsseldorf, capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The parties have agreed to form a committed cooperative partnership to launch the first German open living lab for healthy ageing and smart home in Düsseldorf, starting in Q2 2016. The partners are preparing an e-healthcare pilot project for preventive healthcare that will leverage digital technologies to enable older people to live safely and longer at home. 

ZTE Corporation, Telefónica Deutschland and the Dusseldorf Department of Health have started planning the e-healthcare project for district-based health prevention and care for the elderly. The premise being tested is the care of the elderly by passive digital monitoring. The behaviour and movements of elderly people are to be detected by sensors, not cameras. Relatives, friends or care givers receive information via an app several times a day and a status message if everything is in order or if something is abnormal. If the latter is the case, preventive action can be taken. The project is to be scientifically monitored and evaluated. 

"The city of Dusseldorf wants to set a good example with the launch this e-healthcare pilot. Digitization is not just a slogan for us. On the basis of this pilot project, we want to show that digital solutions are to the benefit of all and can be used to contribute to tangible improvements in living conditions and in particular healthcare," explains Prof. Dr. Andreas Meyer-Falcke, Health Councillor, City of Dusseldorf. 

“With the development of the new-generation information technologies such as Internet of Things, cloud computing, and mobile internet, the smart city concept has become increasingly popular. As one of the world leading players in the global smart city field, we are happy to support the City of Düsseldorf with intelligent digital solutions for smart healthcare and help to keep costs under control - for health insurance, nursing services and the city,” says Zhang Renjun, SVP of ZTE Corporation. 

“At Telefónica, we are ambitious to become the leading digital telecommunication company in Germany. As a partner for consumers, companies and public institutions we aim for all people to benefit from the advantages of digitalization,” says Pia von Houwald, Director Business Development at Telefónica Deutschland. “For this reason, our cooperation with ZTE and the Municipality of Düsseldorf is an important flagship eHealth project. It is a good combination of the benefits of digitalization with important questions regarding the future of social interaction.” 

Technically, the project is based on a cloud-based trend analysis platform from ZTE. The data collected from the sensors is transmitted to a gateway via mobile internet and hosted in a ZTE datacentre in Dusseldorf, which is subject to German IT security legislation. The participants’ data is only accessible by authorized persons, whether they are family members, friends or caregivers. The mobile partner for this Düsseldorf eHealth pilot is the mobile network operator, Telefónica. 

ZTE aspires to be the leader in the global smart city arena. ZTE Smart City is present in 40 countries around the world and is dominating or becoming involved in smart city construction in more than 140 cities. It has become an important participant and promoter in smart city construction around the world and so solves three major challenges: investment, data sharing and operation. Meanwhile, ZTE is building up a smart city eco-system together with its global partners, working together to share the smart city construction experience and the vision of creating a smart world.