CIP
How can digital innovation sustainably improve care? This question is at the heart of Community Innovative Care (CIP) – a research project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) to build an interdisciplinary innovation community for the care sector.
Background: Care Needs Innovation
Both inpatient and outpatient care face serious structural challenges: a growing demand for care services alongside a severe shortage of skilled staff, inadequate digital infrastructure, and a still-limited culture of innovation. Technology holds enormous potential – but it can only be effective when all relevant stakeholders are involved in developing and testing solutions together.
What Is Community Innovative Care (CIP)?
CIP is a funded research and innovation project within the DATIpilot programme. Its goal is to establish a sustainable innovation community that brings together technological, care-practice and social expertise – and jointly develops, tests and implements digital solutions for the care sector.
In a first Community Sprint, the project systematically explores whether and how the diverse stakeholder groups in care – from care facilities and technology providers to researchers and civil society – can collaborate productively.
Research Questions in the Community Sprint
- What are the specific needs of stakeholders in inpatient and outpatient long-term care?
- Which communication channels are best suited to building a sustainable innovation community?
- How can different target groups be engaged in the co-development of digital care solutions?
Project Structure
The project operates through two closely aligned sub-projects:
Sub-Project A – Simon & Goetz Design GmbH & Co. KG (Practice Partner)
The Frankfurt-based practice partner leads the identification and analysis of stakeholder groups in care practice, develops target-group-specific communication and design strategies, and runs prototype tests to validate communication formats for community recruitment.
Sub-Project B – IU International University of Applied Sciences (Research Partner)
The eCommerce Institut Cologne at IU International University is responsible for scientific monitoring and evaluation, conducting needs analyses and stakeholder categorisation, and deriving recommendations for action and transfer models for future project phases.
Expected Outcomes
By the end of the Community Sprint, the project will have produced reliable insights into the needs, motivations and barriers of the relevant stakeholder groups. These findings will form the foundation for building a lasting, impact-oriented innovation community for the care sector.
Research findings will be presented at the 6th ISPC 2026 (10–11 September 2026, FHNW Switzerland) and the 7th ISPC 2027, both published by Springer Nature.
➡ More about the community: www.innovativepflege.de
Project Details
| Funding Programme | DATIpilot – Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor | Team Innovative Pflege e.V. (TIP) |
| Project Duration | 01 March 2026 – 30 April 2027 |
| Grant Reference (IU) | 03DPC0212T |
| Cooperation Partner | Simon & Goetz Design GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt |
| Community Website | www.innovativepflege.de |
Project Team
Prof. Dr. Richard C. Geibel (Principal Investigator)
Professor of Business Administration, IU International University of Applied Sciences, Cologne; Director of the eCommerce Institut Cologne. Former Visiting Research Scientist at MIT Sloan School of Management; editor of multiple Springer volumes on Digital Management and Digital Health.
Annalena Sommer (Research Associate)
Areas of expertise: consumer and environmental psychology, sustainability, digital marketing and social commerce. M.Sc. Lund University (Environmental Studies & Sustainability) and Universiteit Leiden (Economics & Consumer Psychology).