Steinbeis Europa Zentrum is supporting the development of smart health tools
Even as digital transformation plows ahead on its inexorable course, it can still sometimes cause controversy, not least in the healthcare sector. There is no doubt that smart health tools can help to solve the challenges currently facing the industry, yet many people feel left behind or have concerns about their personal data. Through the EU’s SHIFT-HUB project, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum is creating incentives and solutions to promote the development and use of smart health tools.
The healthcare industry is currently facing numerous, often interconnected challenges. The number of older people is rising, and many of them suffer from multiple conditions, resulting in complex care needs. At the same time, there is a shortage of healthcare professionals, and those who do work in the industry are increasingly struggling to cope with the
high demand for healthcare services. Yet there is a perception among many practitioners that digitalization processes actually increase their workload rather than reducing it. This is an area with clear need for innovative solutions that can be seamlessly integrated with existing structures and connected with each other in order to provide appropriate support for surgeries, hospitals and the healthcare sector.
A network for smart health technologies
The international SHIFT-HUB project team coordinated by Steinbeis Europa Zentrum is building a network that brings together stakeholders from industry, research, government and civil society across Europe to facilitate and foster the development of smart health technologies and services and increase their acceptance. The project has been awarded €2 million of EU funding over three years.
The twelve partners in the project consortium have developed a catalog of educational materials for promoting digital healthcare literacy. They have also developed SHIFT-HUB games that provide users with a fun introduction to digital health and health apps. The games cover different symptoms and preventive measures, and players receive a small prize at the end.
Open innovation in the smart health sector
The project started by running a series of open innovation workshops to promote networking among technology providers, healthcare experts and other stakeholders. “Steinbeis Europa Zentrum ran a workshop on ‘Co-Creating the Future of Healthcare’ at the Baden-Württemberg Open Innovation Congress held in Stuttgart in April. Our aim was to identify the needs of healthcare professionals and patients, and work with technology providers to come up with ideas and solutions”, says Steinbeis Europa Zentrum’s Alice Seim.
The basic idea behind open innovation is that instead of just using their own resources and expertise, enterprises also draw on external ideas, technologies and resources to drive innovation. This can be done in various ways, for example through partnerships, collaborations, startup acquisitions, licensing and open platforms. Open innovation thus helps to foster the sharing of knowledge and ideas among different organizations and industries and the general public.
Open innovation offers multiple benefits for the smart health sector:
- It enables healthcare organizations to work with startups and established companies and benefit from their expertise and innovative technologies.
- Patient involvement in the innovation process – such as feedback mechanisms, crowdsourcing or participatory design methods – leads to a better understanding of their needs and experiences.
- Open health data platforms provide researchers, developers and other stakeholders with access to information that they can use to develop innovative solutions.
- Collaboration between different research institutions, universities and businesses can help to accelerate the advancement of medical research and technology development.
Living labs and demo days
Building on the ideas for innovative solutions developed in the open innovation workshops, the project partners provide additional support for the smart health solution innovation cycle. Living labs are established to test the ideas from the workshops in a real or simulated environment. This allows the participants to trial prototypes and concepts in a practical setting and receive continuous feedback from end users and other stakeholders. The project partners from Thessaloniki were the first to organize living labs in their Lab of Medical Physics and Digital Innovation.
The results and advances achieved in the living labs are then presented at “demo days”, where technology providers have the opportunity to showcase their smart health solutions to a wider public and generate interest among potential investors, partners and customers. They also provide a chance to raise awareness about the latest developments in smart health solutions and increase the visibility of innovations. The University of Cologne has already hosted two online demo days where startups from the Cologne and Leipzig innovation ecosystems presented their solutions. Furthermore, demo days
Leveraging data without compromising privacy
The European Commission launched the European Health Data Space to ensure optimal healthcare delivery across borders and strengthen research and data sharing throughout Europe. While patients will be in full control of their health data, the data space will ensure cross-border interoperability and provide access to the data for research, innovation and policymaking.
The partners in the SHIFT-HUB project are working on a pilot for this platform. The SHIFT-HUB data platform aims to provide researchers with access to high-quality, anonymized health data to support the development of smart health tools.
Steinbeis Europa Zentrum offers support with applications and project implementation
Do you want to get ahead with your healthcare projects and check whether your ideas are eligible for funding? Steinbeis Europa Zentrum helps businesses, universities and research institutions to find the right funding program and submit their proposal . We will review your ideas, draft and formulate a proposal , and manage your innovation projects. We will also look for suitable partners in other countries and ensure that your ideas are effectively translated into marketable solutions. Together we can make your project a success!
Further information about the SHIFT-HUB project: www.shift-hub.eu
Contact
Alice Seim (author)
Project Manager
Steinbeis Europa Zentrum
Steinbeis 2i GmbH (Stuttgart)
Dr. Alena Bubeck (author)
Project Manager
Steinbeis Europa Zentrum
Steinbeis EU for YOU (Stuttgart)