Parallel Session 7 - IT Innovation Ecosystem

Europe is strongly looking to support innovation, in digital, green and more and more focused in societal challenges like health and care. An overview of different innovation instruments and ecosystems that exist in the European Union, funding, programs, and Joint Undertakings (the Public-Private Partnership models) with a particular focus in Health will give audience an introductory note. 
The European Electronic Health Record Exchange Format (EEHRxF) is evolving from a recommendation to a legally established entity under the new Regulation for a European Health Data Space. What the format is, also looking at it as the basis for a new Digital Health Innovation ecosystem will be covered. The new XpanDH project will be presented and how it seeks to develop a panEuropean innovation ecosystem based on easy and plug-and-play interoperability assets around the EEHRxF demonstrates the concept of innovation ecosystems.
Finally, WHO Europe, particularly its Quality-of-Care and Patient Safety office, is also embarking on new innovative efforts, through the Open Quality initiative. This seeks to open the formal quality in health establishment to innovators that can bring solutions to long-standing quality of care challenges, many of which are similar between hospitals and healthcare facilities in Europe and in Hong Kong or other places in the world.

China is undergoing a new round of Health innovation.  From the view of a renowned life science industry investment expert, Mr. Liu analyzed the driving factors of China’s country wide innovation.  He also depicted the landscape of China’s health industry in 7 domains, and highlighted the investment hotspots for major domains.
 
Mr. Liu then introduced 6 successful Chinese health innovation companies as typical examples of major domains, with the analysis of their unique competitive edge.
 
In supporting HA engaging in GBA innovation, Mr. Liu finally introduced major Science and Technology Parks in GBA and HK’s latest development in Northern Metropolis area.

Driven by the growing demand for quality healthcare services due to rising patient expectations and the ever-increasing complexity of modern healthcare delivery, the adoption of advanced technologies towards a Smart Hospital model has become a priority in Hong Kong. With the medical and health industry on the direction of further digital transformation as vital to meeting this sustainability challenge, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) is committed to being a trusted partner in supporting the Hospital Authority (HA) to realise its Smart Hospital Strategy in propelling digital health to the next level. 
HKSTP has established a thriving I&T ecosystem and is the city’s leading research and development (R&D) hub with over 1,200 tech companies that strive to translate R&D into market-ready solutions, including healthtech, medtech and biotech. Reinforced by Hong Kong Government’s I&T Development Blueprint, HKSTP has been making unprecedented strides by taking leaps toward building a connected ecosystem conducive to increasing cross-industry collaboration and expediting the translation of innovative technologies into real-life benefits at speed and scale. 
In supporting HA to embrace technological advances that will enhance the patient experience along this transformational Smart Healthcare journey, HKSTP will continue to facilitate and foster extensive collaboration between HA and the I&T sector through its Park companies. This includes collaborating with HA to establish a data hub that can add further impetus to inform big data clinical health research and inspire health data collaboration projects within a controlled environment. In addition, HKSTP will partner with HA in co-creating digitally-enabled pilot programme or test beds in hospitals’ smart wards and smart clinics, promoting the application of smart technologies and knowledge transfer throughout the stages of smart hospital infrastructure planning, and establishing digital healthcare to people-centred health services.