Global, not-for-profit organisation European Connected Health Alliance (ECHAlliance) welcomed various digital health players to the stage at the annual Digital Health & Wellness Summit (DHWS21) at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) & 4 Years From Now (4YFN).
The DHWS22 accommodated 800+ experts from 74 countries.
- Watch the recording videos of the sessions here
- Check speakers presentations here
- See the Photo Gallery here
The DHWS22 invites stakeholders from all health ecosystems to come together and exchange ideas and conversations about the most relevant opportunities and challenges in digital health. Patients, start-ups, governments, investors, researchers, pharmaceuticals, hospitals and multinational companies meet in Barcelona for the 4-day, session-packed event.
This year, the DHWS22 hosted leading companies and organisations like American Telemedicine Association, the French Ministry of Health, Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, Europrivacy, Accenture, department of health of Catalonia, Hospital del Mar – Parc de Salut MAR, ORCHA, World Health Organisation, and many more. The participation of such important figures underscored both the expanding reach of digital health across the globe and the progress made in advancing care and knowledge.
More importantly, the in-person event marked a bubbling optimism for the future overall.
More than 61,000 attendees convened in-person from around the world to discuss the convergence of mobile, the potential of the metaverse and transforming vertical industries.
Highlights from the DHWS22
The Digital Health & Wellness Summit organised a diverse line-up of speakers and sessions to cover the most relevant topics, including COVID-19, data spaces & data governance, artificial intelligence and mental health. Moderating the entire event was charismatic Board Director of ECHAlliance and The Digital Health Society, Julien Venne.
Familiar faces for much of the global digital health community, they reiterated the overall message of interconnectedness and a need for collaboration to continue advancing the cause.
The first track A TRUSTWORTHY DIGITAL HEALTH started with the leading topic in digital health: data, artificial intelligence and privacy dilemmas. The panel comprised speakers from the Germans Trias i pujol Research Institute, Accenture – USA, Europrivacy International Board of Experts in Data Protection and Open Evidence. Kaveh Safavi, Senior Managing Director at Accenture, spoke to the transformative benefits of artificial intelligence, underscoring that a more operational focus could be found throughout. Examples included increased cybersecurity, operational efficiency, cost savings, and improved analytical capabilities. At the same time, he highlighted a point shared by all speakers, which was that automation did not mean job substitution. Indeed, automation could not address aspects such as creative intelligence, social intelligence and as he quoted “abstract manual” (perception, dexterity, manipulation, physical adaptability).
As the event unfolded, audiences also listened in on individual discussions with Sameer Pujari, Global Digital Health Strategy and Governance Acting Director at the World Health Organization; Sara Secall, General Partner at Inveready; and Ann Mond Johnson, CEO at American Telemedicine Association. The fireside chats were brief yet so informative, tapping into the many questions surrounding investment trends, telehealth advances and equitable care for all.
“Our hope is to see more acceptance in tele-health in the future.” – Ann Mond Johnson, CEO at American Telemedicine Association, as she speaks about the annual conference & expo ATA2022 (Boston, USA) and its aim to create opportunity in a time of uncertainty
The DHWS22 then invited various speakers from across Europe to shed light on the actual transformations already occurring in healthcare. From supporting patients with health app accreditation processes for more informed decisions to the use of genomics and medical information in understanding disease treatment and more, these breakthrough changes in care represented what is only the tip of the iceberg.
As the Chief Medical Officer of Hospital del Mar Miguel Pera who presented the Hospital of the future and how hospital will look like in 2030, stated
“transformation is simply unavoidable. We have the power, though, to take advantage of these opportunities and make it our goal to guarantee better services to citizens.”
An important achievement for the Summit was the session focused on upcoming tenders and contracts from across Europe. Indeed, ECHAlliance’s Innovation Director, Karolina Mackiewicz, touched upon the potential wide support that will be obtained with the EU fund 2021-2027 general budget and Recovery and Resilience Fund, and Project Lead French EU Presidency Louisa Stüwe who represented the Ministry of health, explained the French ambitious Digital health strategy and the programme and priorities of the French EU Presidency.
All health players in the world have deployed massive investment plans for the next decade around health and its digital transformation, the last panel showcased specific business opportunities to address in 2022.
DHWS22 Promotes Networking and Growth
It was clear from the very beginning that the DHWS22 was a chance to build upon insights and knowledge, network and leverage potential synergies. The event hosted various networking sessions after each discussion track to encourage the many health ecosystem stakeholders to meet, greet and leave with promising prospects.
The DHWS22 Event Speaks to a More Promising Future in Digital Health
In final statements, moderator Julien Venne left event visitors with words of encouragement.
The Digital Health & Wellness Summit ‘22 did not only represent an exchange of best practices and progress in digital health. The event, which has now been happening for 10 years, showed that our understanding of what is “health” and “digital health” is slowly becoming one of the same. Digital transformation coupled with patient centrism and strong health institutions are providing the quality of care that has always been key to better patient experiences.
Future Digital Health Events and DHWS23
The ECHAlliance will offer a series of activities and events throughout the year, so check out our website: www.echalliance.com
The ECHAlliance is pleased to invite all digital health innovators to the next Digital Health and Wellness Summit during the next Mobile World Congress / 4 Years From Now beginning 28 February and finishing 3 March 2023.
MWC22 by the numbers:
- Over 61,000 unique people attended in person
- Around 500,000 unique virtual and daily viewers on MWC22 and partner platforms
- Representation from almost 200 countries and territories
- Over 1,900 exhibitors, sponsors, and partners
- Over 1,000 speakers, 97% in person and 36% women
- More than 50% of attendees were Directors and C-Suite executives, 20% were CEOs and founders, 25% were women
- Millions tuned into MWC22 Barcelona content via Mobile World Live global syndication and official national and international broadcasters.
- More than 1,600 international journalists were onsite
More information:
The European Connected Health Alliance (ECHAlliance) is the Global Connector for digital health. Our global community connects 78 countries and 4.4 billion people (Africa, Americas, Asia, Canada, Caribbean, China, Europe, Commonwealth, India, the Pacific & USA) and over 20,000 experts – including government, health & social care providers, leading companies and start-ups, researchers, insurances, patients groups and citizens. We have an intelligence network of over 70+ Ecosystems, run a number of international projects, provide up to date news and social media content and organise key digital health events.
The Digital Health Observatory and The Digital Health Society movement facilitate and promote the transfer of knowledge, experiences and best practices creating a community of knowledge in Digital Health globally.
Visit our website (https://echalliance.com/) to join our network. Follow ECHAlliance on Twitter and LinkedIn.
For more information contact Beatriz Sanz, Communications Director.
