Health gains increasing importance at the Mobile World Congress

From a few acts to becoming one of the main subject on the agenda of the Mobile World Congress 2014. In fact, to a greater or lesser extent, health is present in all of the rooms of the exhibition. The Mobile World Congress therefore becomes an unavoidable meeting for professionals and experts in mHealth. This year Barcelona hosts the “Health & Wellness ECH Alliance @ MWC”, a two-day programme with keynotes and leading world speakers at the Fira de Montjuïc fairground, and also the “Implementing mHealth” seminar of the GSMA at the Fira Gran Via. The Ministerial Programme also includes a thematic workshop on mobile health. 

The mHealth agenda at the MWC14

Monday, 24 February 2014

•    mPowered Industry Keynotes

Brands, Marketing and Media on the Mobile. The mobile’s ability to transform: globally successful study cases

With the participation of Dr. Oliver Harrison (Ithaca Health), Michael Cohen-Dumani (Oral-B, P&G) and Vinayak Prasad (OMS).

Place: Hall M5 – Fira de Montjuïc. Time: 2 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

•    Mobile Health thematic workshop – Ministerial Programme

This is a programme parallel to the MWC. It is a unique platform which gathers the most influential leaders of the ICT sector, governmental institutions and other sectors involved.

Place: Auditori B. Fira Gran Via. 

Tuesday 25 February 2014

•    Health & Wellness ECHAlliance @ Mobile World Congress 2014

For the first time, this event focused on health and well-being will be held as a meeting point at the Congress for the agents involved in mHealth. The obstacles slowing the progress of mobile health will be identified in order to eliminate them, and opportunities will be sought for the industry and citizens. 

At the Tuesday sessions, the outstanding speakers will include Michèle Delaunay, the French minister for the elderly; Céline Deswarte, the person responsible for the health and well-being policies of the European Commission’s DG CONNECT, and professor Georges Crooks, medical director of the NHS 24 – UK.

Place: Hall H8 – Fira de Montjuïc. Time: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Wednesday 26 February 2014

•    GSMA Seminar. Connected Living – Mobilising the Internet of Things. 

The Internet of Things will play an important role in health in the future. The areas to be dealt with will cover telecommunications, standard requirements and challenges for the adjacent operators and sectors in a market experiencing very fast growth. 

Place: Seminar Theatre 1 CC1.1 – Fira de Montjuïc. Time: 8:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

•    Health & Wellness ECHAlliance @ Mobile World Congress 2014 

The Wednesday session will deal with success cases in the use of mobile technologies for the promotion of health, prevention, education, detection of disease and healthcare management. There will also be talk on remote healthcare and financing. At 3:45 p.m., there will be a session to analyse the conclusions of the two days of talks and keynotes. The framework of the ECHAlliance will also be the place for organising a Marketplace and a Speaker’s Corner.

Experts will be taking part of the like of Michel Strübin, mHealth project manager of GSMA; Joan Cornet, director of the Competence Centre in mHealth of the MWC Barcelona Foundation and Brian O’Connor, president of the ECHAlliance. 

Place: Hall H8 – Fira de Montjuïc. Time: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Thursday 27 February 2014

•    GSMA Seminar. Mobile World Capital: Implementing mHealth 

This seminar will include the presentation of the evolution of the Competence Centre in mHealth of Barcelona, and will receive the participation of experts in this field. There will be talk about the Personal Health Folder and the pilot trials being carried out in Catalonia, the iCOR project for the care and monitoring of patients with cardiovascular diseases, the electronic cards for the new-born, and the Zero Maternal Mortality project aimed at women in Africa. There will also be an introduction to the Task Force for mHealth Deployment. 

Place: Theatre 2, CC1.1 – Fira de Montjuïc. Time: 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Exhibitions:

•    Hall M8 (mPowered Industries). Fira de Montjuïc: European Connected Health Alliance
•    Hall Congress Square. Fira de Montjuïc:

o    Health & Sportlab

o    Primum Health/Minerva

o    FitBit