News from LONDON | DESIRE Business Trip UK

From April 23-25, 2024, the DESIRE project partners and their companies heard the call: “London calling for your e-health solutions!”. The 10-member delegation, led by ICS, spent exciting and very intensive days in one of the most innovative cities for medical technologies and for research & development in the digital health sector; with the stated goal of exploring market opportunities and meeting promising business partners for personal discussions. They received active support from the colleagues at the Austrian Foreign Trade Centre London and the EEN partners in the region.

• Imperial College: Keynote speeches and tour of the medical technology/e-health labs
• Science Museum: Special guided tour by Peter Pesl/Advantage Austria through the Medicine Wellcome Galleries (History of Medicine)
• Advantage Austria London: Evening reception with high-ranking contacts in the e-health/medical technology sector

Thanks to a concise insight into the UK’s current R&D lead at Imperial College London (Institute of Global Health Innovation, Centre for Bio-Inspired Technologies), the participants realized that the digital health sector is seen as a significant cross-cutting issue that impacts all important areas of healthcare with innovative solutions. Examples given included currently prioritized research on cybersecurity in healthcare organizations and the development of an app for sustainable rehabilitation of stroke patients. The subsequent exclusive tour of the Science Museum London took them back in time to learn why London has developed into one of the international capitals of medicine. The day concluded with a networking dinner at the Austrian Foreign Trade Centre London, which facilitated further engaging discussions and new contacts.

• Digital Healthcare Show: Exciting trade fair visit and joint meetings with representatives from the University of Oxford, Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI), Science & Engineering Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA), and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)
• Business exchange with British companies (Sirkka Health, Hodgkinson McCambridge) and British EEN partners (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Innovate UK Business Growth)

A particular highlight of the trip was certainly the visit to the Digital Healthcare Show, where an exciting keynote illuminated the use of AI in healthcare and opened up new perspectives. Afterwards, participants individually explored the exhibition stands and exchanged ideas on common challenges and solutions. The opportunity to meet representatives of leading British health organizations and associations for personal discussions, together with Peter Pesl, the innovation/technology expert at the Austrian Foreign Trade Centre London, was also particularly valuable. The evening program offered a networking dinner with Healthcare Consultants from Leeds, which fostered further valuable contacts.

• B2B matchmaking at its best!
• Tailored B2B appointments from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM with British companies/organizations in the digital health sector, supported by our local EEN partners

As a grand finale on day 3, the delegation participants benefited from tailored, pre-booked 30-minute B2B discussions with interesting business contacts in the e-health sector. These were organized and implemented in advance in cooperation with the EEN partners from the UK.