CIP Updates

This page documents the progress of the project ZiBeKo – Target Group-Specific Needs Assessment and Communication, carried out as part of Community Innovative Care (CIP) within the DATIpilot programme of the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR). All updates are listed in reverse chronological order – the latest news always appears at the top.

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CIP Member Meeting April 2026: Looking Back and Heading Into Round Two

Reading time: approx. 4 minutes

On 16 April 2026, the Community Innovative Pflege (CIP) came together for its digital member meeting. Alongside around 30 participants from nursing practice, research, and industry, our ZiBeKo team reviewed the past year, discussed the results of the first funding round, and helped sharpen the topics for the second round.

An intensive morning – here are our key takeaways.

Looking Back at 2025 and Q1 2026: A Solid Foundation for Nursing Innovation in Germany

The past year was marked by tangible growth. The community has visibly connected with policymakers, professional associations, and other DATIpilot communities. Team Innovative Pflege e.V. also welcomed new members.

Key milestones in the digitalisation of nursing care include:

• Launch and relaunch of the website innovativepflege.de
• Building a LinkedIn presence
• Kick-off of the technical working groups (Facharbeitsgruppen, FAGs)
• Start of a total of five community projects

The team was also present at major industry events: the DATIpilot community meeting in Leipzig (October 2025), ProCare Hannover (February 2026), the admission of the Caritas associations of the Diocese of Mainz, and the DaKILP hackathon (February 2026). A strategy workshop in February set the course for what comes next – and today the preparation of the second project call was finalised.

Results of the First Funding Round: Four Projects + Starter Project

The selection process was structured and transparent. Of 17 submissions, 10 were not endorsed due to insufficient fit, 7 were admitted to the vote, 4 received a funding recommendation – and all 4 were approved. In addition, CIP is running its own starter project.

The starter project is building a dynamic, care-appropriate online catalogue for digital assistance systems, including a built-in evaluation system (CareTechSelect). It is complemented by a Mixed Reality application that lets nursing staff realistically assess the workload-relief potential of digital assistance systems.

The three other funded projects at a glance:

• DaKILP – Data foundation for AI solutions in nursing: a public-interest data base, process-oriented use cases, and tested AI prototypes. Partners include Diakonie, Caritas, Hof University of Applied Sciences, FINSOZ, and the Data Science Institute.
• DiPA – Digital Nursing Assistance: cutting roughly 60 minutes of daily coordination effort via AI-supported assessments at the point of care, DIHVA systems, and modern mobile diagnostics (digital otoscopy, stethoscopes, 6-lead ECG).
• Pflegekontour: AI-supported process digitalisation for wound management in both outpatient and inpatient nursing care – with Hof University, Awesome Technologies, Audience.AI, and C&S.

Current Status Q2/2026: Research and Practice in Dialogue

The starter project is currently in qualitative evaluation of focus groups and expert interviews with nursing staff from five facilities. Core questions: the burden of indirect nursing tasks and expectations toward digital assistance systems as workload relief.

In parallel, teams are developing the online catalogue and the MR application. From September 2026, initial results will be presented to nursing staff – for direct feedback and further iterations.

The approach is deliberately highly participatory: nursing staff are not only the target group, they are co-designers. That creates transparency in technology assessment and lays the groundwork for the association’s upcoming “nursing maturity level” (Pflegereifegrad) – an important building block for broader acceptance of nursing technology in the field.

Second Funding Round: These Topics Are in Focus

For the second funding call, the CIP management team has prioritised seven thematic areas:

1. Digital nursing & real-world labs
2. Technology integration
3. Pilot study on assistance systems
4. Nursing data use & the European Health Data Space (EHDS)
5. Interoperability & scaling (e.g. ePA, TIM)
6. Classification & maturity level
7. Process-innovation guidelines

The selection criteria remain clear: projects must contribute to digital assistance systems, involve at least two of the three stakeholder groups (nursing, research, industry), stay below the maximum funding amount of €300,000, and be completed by the end of 2028. The technology readiness level is typically TRL 6–7.

Our View from the ZiBeKo Team

For us as the ZiBeKo subproject (target-group-specific needs assessment and communication), the meeting was a real tailwind. It underlined how much nursing innovation in Germany depends on a dialogue that takes nursing professionals seriously. That is exactly what we are working on – through our ongoing interviews in inpatient care (starting March 2026 in the Heidelberg region) and our completed desk-research blocks A–E.

Join In

Will you be at DMEA on 21 April in Berlin or at the Altenpflege trade fair in Nuremberg? Come and connect – CIP is organising networking events on site, including a networking dinner on DMEA Tuesday around 19:30.

You can find more on our work on our ZiBeKo project page and in our kick-off blog post. Questions, ideas, or collaboration interest? We would love to hear from you.

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