We welcome our new Madrid Digital Health-Biosciences Ecosystem! Read the interview with its ecosystem coordinator

We are very excited to welcome another ecosystem from Spain: Madrid Digital Health-Biosciences Ecosystem. Read this interview with Luis Villarrubia. Coordinator of DIH·bio and Deputy Director of Entrepreneurship Department of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Who are the key stakeholders?

Madrid Digital Health-Biosciences Ecosystem is a joint initiative supported by both public and private stakeholders representing the four major actors in the innovation system: public administration, academia, industry and civil society. These include regional and local authorities, chamber of commerce, the university, prestigious research centres, public and private hospitals, biotech and health SMEs, big pharma companies, science parks, investors and other business associations.  

What are the main objectives of your ecosystems?

DIH·bio is a European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) at the head of Madrid Digital Health-Biosciences Ecosystem whose mission is to help solve health-related challenges by combining different areas of knowledge such as science and technology. To this end, we aim to:

• Build a sustainable innovation ecosystem with an effective participation and networking of the key actors of the quadruple helix
• Attract new organisations, institutions, start-ups and Healthtech companies to the ecosystem 
• Assist public organisations and Healthcare companies to improve their production processes and services by means of digital technologies under the umbrella of the complete set of services provided by EDIHs
• Transform innovation, research and technology into regional economic growth and improved healthcare and wellbeing

Why did you join the ECHAlliance Network of Ecosystems?

We believe that joining ECHAlliance will help us boost our ecosystem by expanding our network and foster international collaborations with other ecosystems, innovators and professionals in the health sector to transform healthcare. As partners of ECHAlliance we will strengthen our collaborations with other ecosystems to improve the quality and efficiency of the digital transformation of health and social care in the world. 

Who is missing from your ecosystem in terms of stakeholders? 

Although our ecosystem comprises all the actors of the quadruplex helix innovation model, we miss some partners whose expertise is in the field of robotics applied to the health sector. 

Which ecosystems are you looking to collaborate with?

We would like to collaborate with ecosystems that can complement us with technology and expertise for which we are not specialists (i.e. robotics).