BILBAO, Spain, April 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- World's largest ageing care city, Sun City in Beijing, China, 
leverages the technology to cut costs, improve care delivery; UK's Medway 
delivers e-services to thousands of older people for personalised and 
self-directed social care.

Microsoft Corp today announced the launch of a worldwide e-services
platform for elderly care at the third Local and Regional Government (LRG)
Solutions Forum in Bilbao.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)

Driven by the needs of a globally ageing population, budget restraints
and higher expectations of healthcare provision from citizens, Microsoft
Citizen Service Platform (CSP) is set to revolutionise the delivery of
elderly social care service around the world. As part of the early adoption
programme, UK-based Microsoft partners Cerrus International Ltd and CareWorks
Ltd have already rolled out the e-services platform to large elderly
communities in China and the UK.

Microsoft Citizen Service Platform has provided the basis for the Cerrus
International Saturn 3 technology system currently being used to deliver
personalised elderly care. The forum will showcase how the Saturn 3 system
has transformed the delivery of care services across Sun City by enabling the
monitoring and movement of patient data and providing a personalised
continuum of care while helping to reduce costs and many of the complexities
associated with the provision of elderly social care.

Situated on the outskirts of Beijing, Sun City is the world's largest
ageing care city. Built on around 100 acres of land with a combined
construction area of around 75 acres with 56 acres of residential buildings
and 17 acres of public facilities, Sun City provides care for 7,000 older
people through a variety of assisted living facilities. Personalised,
one-to-one care support is widely available alongside hospital, medical,
health management and Chinese medicine therapy treatments.

With China's ageing population estimated by Cerrus International at 153
million people and the problems associated with an ageing population becoming
increasingly apparent, Chinese government national healthcare reform has
sought to work with worldwide partners to deliver effective systems to
increase the supply of community healthcare across the country.

Stewart Maxwell, CEO of Cerrus International, said, "China has the
largest ageing population in the world and, as such, needs a world-class
solution to help it meet the goals of its recent healthcare reforms. This is
the largest community ageing system of its kind and truly validates Cerrus'
offering as a basis for a national care system. To deal effectively with the
growing ageing population we need care homes, care villages and care cities
which are hubs of local life. We need to provide a range of flexible care
services and cater for increasingly diverse populations, which working with a
partner such as Microsoft Citizen Service Platform enables us to do."

Speaking about Microsoft's launch of e-services for the elderly, Bruce
Greenstein, managing director for Health and Social Services, Worldwide
Health at Microsoft, said, "Social care is a key focus area of Microsoft
Citizen Service Platform. Microsoft technology provides both a vision and a
solutions platform architecture that seeks to deliver economies of scale and
flexibility, providing governments with the tools they need to balance
ever-shrinking budgets against the needs of an ageing population and rising
citizen service expectations. Technology has an important role to play in the
drive for personalisation and self-directed social care. By using technology
to empower both workers and citizens, we can revolutionise the provision and
delivery of social care worldwide as seen through the Sun City and Medway
Council projects."

Microsoft Technology Reforms Elderly Care Services in the UK

With an ageing population stretching public resources, elderly care
services in the UK are experiencing significant change as each local
authority in England is tasked with moving towards a self-directed model of
care where individuals help determine their own care requirements.

Using Microsoft Citizen Service Platform, CareWorks has developed a new
management system called CareDirector, which allows the public to direct and
manage their own social care. CareDirector maximises the opportunity to
self-service via the web and reduces the cost of social care support. Because
CareDirector is the first and only social care software company built on
Microsoft Dynamics CRM technologies, CareDirector allows service users to
interact more effectively with the Council, putting people at the centre of
social care and improving the quality of support.

The forum will showcase how Microsoft technology and CareWorks have
applied the principles of customer relationship management to the world of
adult social care. The forum will explain how customer service technology is
providing local governments worldwide with the vital tools they need to
deliver citizen-focussed and cost-effective social care through the example
of Medway Council (Kent) in the UK.

Medway Council is a unitary authority situated in North Kent in the
southeast of England. Medway's Adult Social care department provides care for
10,000 adults and older people. The growth in Medway's older population
(predicted growth in the number of people over age 60 between 2003 and 2028
is 75 per cent, according to Cerrus International), which is reflected
nationally, has resulted in a fundamental change in the way that social care
services are provided. As such, Medway's Adult Social Care department and
CareWorks have been working together to develop ways in which the increased
involvement of older people provides service users with more choice, more
access and more freedom.

Commenting on the implications of this new system to the Medway region,
John Goodhew, business development officer at Medway, said, "CareDirector is
set to revolutionise the way social care services are delivered at Medway.
The new social care agenda requires information systems that are more agile
and allow service users to interact more effectively with the Council.
CareDirector will harness the power of the web, maximising the opportunity of
online self-service. We are delighted to be working with CareWorks to cement
our vision to deliver citizen-focused care services."

Michael Dolan, managing director of CareWorks, said, "Our vision and
supporting technology is first and foremost about delivering benefits to
people and empowering them to take control of their lives. This is a
pioneering example of social care transformation in the UK, and we are proud
to be partners alongside Microsoft in this ground-breaking project."

Further information about the third Worldwide Local and Regional
Government Solutions Forum can be found online at
http://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/LocalRegionalForumVPR/default.mspx

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise
their full potential.

About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)

Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft
employs more than 16,000 people in over 64 subsidiaries, delivering products
and services in more than 139 countries and territories.

This material is for informational purposes only. Microsoft Corp
disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to use of the material
for other purposes. Microsoft Corp shall not, at any time, be liable for any
special, direct, indirect or consequential damages, whether in an action of
contract, negligence or other action arising out of or in connection with the
use or performance of the material. Nothing herein should be construed as
constituting any kind of warranty.