Every memory counts. A song learned in childhood, a family recipe, a word specific to an island, a traditional game, or a story told many times are part of a person's memory, but also of the collective memory of the Canary Islands.
Coinciding with World Alzheimer's Day, on September 21, the Ministry of Universities, Science, Innovation and Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands has focused on Little Challenge, a social innovation project that combines technology, cognitive stimulation, and Canarian culture to promote the well-being of older adults and combat unwanted loneliness.
The initiative, driven by SPARKLING TECH SOLUTIONS, S.L., has been selected within the call for social innovation grants from the Canarian Agency for Research, Innovation and Information Society (ACIISI) and has funding of 100,000 euros, which covers one hundred percent of its subsidizable budget.
Technology to activate memories and create bonds
Little Challenge develops an intergenerational platform that incorporates a virtual cognitive assistant capable of interacting with older adults through conversations, adapted challenges, and mental stimulation activities. The goal is to work on active memory, cognitive training, and emotional well-being through a close and personalized experience.
But the project has a second dimension especially linked to the identity of the islands: older adults can contribute their own stories, experiences, traditions, and knowledge to be collected and digitized.
In this way, their memories cease to be solely an individual experience and become part of a living repository of the intangible heritage of the Canary Islands, which can be shared with younger generations. Family stories, popular customs, traditional games, linguistic expressions, or ways of life linked to each island have a place on the platform.
Older adults, protagonists
The Minister of Universities, Science and Innovation and Culture, Migdalia Machín, highlights that initiatives like this show how “innovation can be put at the service of very specific problems in our society, using technology not as an end, but as a tool to improve people's lives. Talking about memory is also talking about identity, affections, and all the knowledge that our elders can transmit to those who come after. Little Challenge unites these two dimensions: caring for and stimulating individual memory and, at the same time, preserving a part of the memory of the Canary Islands,” added the minister.
The project thus proposes an active role for older adults, fostering the exchange of knowledge between generations and reinforcing their participation and sense of belonging to the community. The combination of artificial intelligence, game dynamics, and cultural heritage seeks to generate experiences that stimulate participation and mutual learning.
Little Challenge is being developed between March 2026 and April 2027 and is part of the nine social innovation projects financed by ACIISI, with a global investment of close to 900,000 euros, aimed at addressing challenges related to, among other areas, digital inclusion, citizen participation, and the integration of vulnerable groups.
On World Alzheimer's Day, Little Challenge offers a complementary perspective: using innovation to stimulate, accompany, and connect, but also to listen to those who have a lifetime to tell.
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