Exploring the Landscape of Digital Health: Takeaways from the Pioneering Digital Transformation in Healthcare Workshop!

On 6th February 2024, AMIRES hosted the “Pioneering Digital Transformation in Healthcare” workshop, which brought together different projects in AMIRES Health & Biotech portfolio (PANCAIM, NetZeroAICT, RES-Q+), longstanding partners such as CSEM and MedTech Europe, as well as external speakers and guests.Our speakers covered the whole value chain of digital health innovation, from academic researchers to representatives from large industry, ambitious SMEs, hospital representatives, lawyers, ethicist, investors, and policy makers. The insights shared during presentations, Q&A rounds and concluding roundtable were founded on wide-ranging experience and covered digital health from a variety of perspectives.

Some of our key takeaways include:

• While AI in radiology is already quite popular amongst technology developers and end users, there is much unexplored potential in other areas of digital health such, data management, wearables and device allowing continuous monitoring for clinical application.
• For targeted and effective new tools, digital health innovation requires cooperation from all stakeholders: researchers from different fields (biologists, radiologists, computer scientists, and more), technology developers, end users (e.g. hospitals, clinicians, patients), regulators, state actors and more.
• Despite their large potential, digital tools in healthcare are facing a lot of hesitation for adoption from all sides due to the high stakes, making it a more challenging market than digital transformation in other domains.
• Addressing ethical questions and uncertainties over issues such as data privacy and accountabilities for mistakes made by AI, are crucial to increase trust in e-health services and solutions.
• Regulation imposes many challenges on technology developers, but it is key to work with the rules to maximise the safety and potential of new technologies for patients.
• Although the AI Act may cause delays in the development and production of AI technologies, it can offer regulatory clarity and increase trustworthiness to make a leap of faith towards AI technologies (quote from Steven Van Wortswinkel)
• Some key pieces of legislation currently in the EU pipeline (EHRS, AI act, etc.) will transform the digital health landscape, providing important new opportunities.

In an intimate setting in the Loft of the Vienna House Diplomat Hotel in Prague, speakers and participants mingled during the networking reception with plenty of drinks and food. Many ideas on current projects and future cooperation opportunities were exchanged and we hope that we will see some of them come to life in the near future in EU projects or other initiatives.A key objective in AMIRES is to bring together researchers, technology developers, providers of enabling technologies and end users, thereby fostering innovations for business and social impacts. We are proud that our event built new collaborations in Digital Health for more efficient technology research and applications!

We would like to thank all speakers and participants for the active engagement during the workshop and look forward to continuing bringing people together at similar events in the future!