Thanks to the success of the first conference held on 7 February this year and the result of the collaboration between TicSalut, the Connect-EU Medical Technologies Group and ACC1Ó, the foundation organized a second edition last 21 November. The conference dealt with the opportunities of Horizon 2020, the largest funding program created within the European Union for investment in innovation and social and health research. Between 2014 and 2020, calls will be opened framed by the three pillars that the Commission has established will open: excellent science, industry leadership and social change.
The European Commission will invest in projects that can have a real impact at European level, and enable the development of initiatives proposed by providers of health and social services. This is why the conference organized by the foundation was addressed at both technological centres and research groups from universities and hospitals and companies in Catalonia. The event was organised into three main blocks: guide of the process and opportunities for businesses, presentation of ideas and experience of projects financed with European funds.
Day start with Francesc García Cuyàs, Roser Fernández and Gabriel Capellà.
Francesc García Cuyàs, the General Coordinator of ICT of the Department of Health and Director of the Fundació TicSalut, Roser Fernández, General Secretary of Health and Gabriel Capellà, Director of the Program for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences, started the day by explaining the possibilities that the Horizon 2020 program gives Catalonia in terms of the development of innovation projects in health. Gabriel Capellà defined transparency and innovation as key objectives of the strategic health plan, and the General Secretary of Health highlighted Catalonia’s chance "to learn to be leaders in Europe."
The first speakers were Francisca García Lizana and Gloria Villar of the Carlos III Health Institute, who used their experience in the European Commission to provide first-hand information. García Lizana described the interest of the EU in intelligent (application of ICT), sustainable and integrating growth. Villar specifically described R&D+1 funding operations in Europe, and defined the priorities of the EU and its current challenges (highlighting the aging population).
Participants at the first table Mª Francisca García Lizana, Gloria Villar and the moderator Ignasi Garcia Milà of Fundació TicSalut.
Then Luis Maeso took the place of his colleague from CDTI Javier Echavarri, to discuss how from the Centre for the Industrial Technological Development they act as partners to "help businesses" through funding programs such as NEOTEC aid and the INNVIERTE program. He also stressed that Catalonia is the autonomous community that runs more innovation projects, as evidenced in this map.
During the second block ideas of projects and collaboration were presented that had been previously been selected by the Fundació TicSalut. The speakers were Jordi Grifoll Llorens of the Joan XXIII University Hospital in Tarragona (HJ23) interested in the implementation of mobile health and Google Glasses; Raimon Milà of the University of Vic, to foster research; Aline Eick, of the Formas Naturales scientific communication company; and a representative from Legyco Compliance & Legal Advisors, S.L., suppliers of specialized expertise.
Daniel Martínez, moderator of the Fundació TicSalut Margarita Hospedales, Iluminada Corripio, and Magda Martí.
fter a break for coffee and for networking, the last section of the day began. Creators of projects financed with European funds (FP7, CIP, AAL, etc.) with the collaboration of Fundació TicSalut, explained the planning process. The participants were firstly Iluminada Corripio, a psychiatrist at Hospital de Sant Pau, who along with the rest of her team, m-Resist, launched an initiative for the treatment of resistant schizophrenia using mobile phones.
Then came Magda Martí, coordinator of international projects at the Agency for Health Quality and Healthcare Evaluation of Catalonia (AQuAS), who described some of the projects in the field of technological innovation in which they had participated, which included PEGASO, to fight obesity through health, and DECIPHER PCP, specialised in mHealth. Finally, Daniel Martinez, director of consulting projects at RICOH, identified ten key points to consider for success in Europe in R&D+i health projects.
Dolors Nuñez and Jordi Martínez.
Before closing, the last word was for Dolores Nuñez, manager ACC1Ó projects, who introduced the concept of health technology cluster. The clusters, as Nuñez told the conference, allow project mainstreaming and seek to answer the "what, who and how."
Finally, Jordi Martínez, Director of Innovation of the Fundació TicSalut, concluded that the conference sought to indicate "what to do with ideas" in social and healthcare innovation. He also proposed an electronic mail in which he invited entities to submit proposals: h2020@ticsalut.cat.
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