PHOTO: SUSANNA LEHTO
22 column Auli Pere The author is the programme manager in charge of Tekes Bits of Health Programme
Digital health hub of the north
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igitalisation has already changed our life in numerous ways and is set to influence it further in future – especially in healthcare. Mobile solutions will bring healthcare practically everywhere and hopefully we will be able to shift the focus from disease treatment towards prevention and health promotion. Healthcare is facing huge challenges all over the world. Western countries should be able to renew healthcare processes in order to take care of the aging population. Developing countries are faced with challenges to deliver healthcare services to their growing populations. Clever use of digital services could play a crucial role in solving such problems. A sizeable increase in the amounts of data and the ability to swiftly transform it into usable information will transform diagnostics and treatment practices. We can already analyse our health with various devices and even buy diagnostics online. Yet we are far from an ideal situation, in which a patient could be monitored at the hospital without being tied to wires and cables, or being able to wear a monitoring device comfortably and unnoticed. We haven’t yet found effective ways to help individuals at risk to change their behaviour for the benefit of their health. Finnish companies are well positioned for developing successful digital health business. There is strong expertise in medical research and ICT in Finland, especially mobile technologies. The recent biobank law and excellent health registries give good grounds for utilising the huge Finnish sample collections and related data in a reliable way. The Finnish health technology sector continues to grow steadily, even during
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TEKES VIEWS MAGAZINE 2015
the latest recession. In fact, health technology is currently our largest high-tech export sector, covering 47 per cent of the Finnish high-tech exports. We also have a very active community of digital health start-ups. These strengths have also been noticed outside of the country: GE Healthcare has selected Finland as the location for their hub of digital health expertise. The company has also established a Health Innovation Village for start-ups in Helsinki. Meanwhile, Samsung, together with local companies and municipalities, is investing in a new health technology accelerator Vertical in Finland. As part of the Team Finland network, Tekes helps Finnish and international organisations to commence innovation collaboration and business partnering. The new national Health Sector Growth Strategy for Research and Innovation, developed in co-operation between different Finnish ministries and innovation organisations, is an excellent starting point. The newly launched Bits of Health Programme is Tekes’ first major initiative to implement the national strategy. Tekes is prepared to invest 50 million euros in this four-year programme, bringing the total amount of investment to 100 million euros. It is now important to combine various expertise in novel ways to create something radically new; something that has the potential to change health and wellbeing as much as mobile phones changed our everyday lives a few decades ago. It is time to join forces to get a move on! n