With its circle of friends, the SVDGV's Nursing Care Innovation working group has launched a new platform for digital nursing care. The circle of friends sees itself as an open forum where participants can exchange ideas and experiences, help shape developments and work together in a spirit of trust. Participants do not need to be active, paying SVDGV members.

The SVDGV's Nursing Care Innovation working group founded the circle of friends to create a new, open meeting space between manufacturers and the many stakeholders in nursing care. It is based on the experience that digital products in nursing care are often developed without meeting actual needs, partly because too few perspectives from practice and the care system are included in the development and project planning phases. The circle of friends therefore welcomes participation even without an interest in developing products of one's own.

We invite all stakeholders interested in advancing digital solutions in nursing care: from potential users, managers, representatives of care providers, researchers and subject-matter experts to organisations that want to drive innovation in everyday care. This trusted setting fosters an innovative exchange that brings manufacturers and stakeholders together and helps develop digital solutions that are better tailored to the real challenges of nursing care.

For example, we are planning a newsletter for the circle of friends with relevant information on digital nursing care. We are also building a list of friends who are open to project enquiries.

Finally, the circle of friends meets in person once a year ahead of the German Nursing Care Day (Deutscher Pflegetag, early November). A first networking breakfast already took place on 5 November 2025 to mark the launch. The next meeting will take place in Berlin on 12 November 2026.