SPOTLIGHT ON…
HealthTech Showcase- 13 October during Birmingham Tech Week
The Cluster proudly hosted, jointly with DLA Piper a HealthTech Showcase as part of Birmingham Tech Week. Showcasing the region’s best HealthTech and bringing together organisations from the Health and Life Sciences sector.
We welcomed over 60 attendees a mix of Digital/HealthTech Businesses, Start-ups, Medical Product Designers, Investors, Manufacturers, Innovation Managers, Tech specialists, Local Government, Academics, Healthcare providers and Clinical professionals. We heard 11 inspiring talks from the community and 10 exhibitors, where delegates were able to see the HealthTech first-hand and speak to the innovators behind the products.
We are very proud of our HealthTech / MedTech ecosystem in the West Midlands. What we have in this region is very special, we will continue to innovate, evolve, collaborate, and help our mission to put us on the map as leaders in this sector in the UK and beyond.
Here are some of the highlights from the event…
- Stunning location – The state-of-the-art DLA Piper office is designed to the highest environmental standards. Every aspect of the building has been carefully considered to reduce environmental impacts and improve the wellbeing of occupants, from minimising waste during the construction phase to furniture selection and acoustic design. The building features innovative design elements to help reduce its carbon footprint such as maximising daylight through floor to ceiling glazing to limit the use of artificial lighting.
- Preventing Mental Health through AI – Amazing, ground-breaking developments in to the use of facial recognition to prevent mental health conditions.
- Insight into the regulation of HealthTech – Overview of the standards required for HealthTech regulation inside and out the EU.
- WM4Ds – A celebration of our strengths which include Data, Digital, Diagnostics and Devices. And our regions abilities as part of the wider ecosystem, collaborations with businesses, academia and the NHS.
- Industrial Product Design – Insight into how innovations cut across sectors and the ingredients required to continuously innovate product developments.
- Remote Care using 5G Tech – Jaw dropping innovation using a pill-sized camera, enabled by 5G to be used to deliver a colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) at home under medical guidance.
- Immersive and Simulation Tech – Introduction to the World Class facilities at the Centre for Innovation. With the use of health simulation and immersive technologies in health care. Using advances in VR and AR technology for training the future clinical workforce and to assist businesses that require a risk-free environment to test product developments.
- Changing the World of Eye Health – Ground breaking solutions for front to back captured of eye data will now be possible. Coupled with newly available machine learning algorithms and higher fidelity image capture, a whole host of eye conditions can be detected with this single, go- to solution.
- Interactive audience session – Insightful panel discussion based on the emerging technologies presented.
- Marketplace and Demo Area – A thriving and engaging networking session where delegates were able to see the HealthTech first-hand. Delegates were able to speak to the innovators behind the products. Everyone involved had the opportunity to hold, test and ask questions about the products and make valuable connections with the HealthTech community.
Sponsors and Event Partners:
Check out the visual story about the Health Tech Showcase here.
CLUSTER NEWS – September 2022
West Midlands Innovation Accelerator
Time’s nearly up. Applications to Innovate UK for funding from the £33M of Government funding on offer for innovation projects in the West Midlands in CleanTech, HealthTech and MedTech must be submitted by 02 November. There is naturally a lot of interest in this new Innovation Fund for the West Midlands. The Cluster is putting forward a Smart Connections project for consideration.
If you are interested in knowing more about this exciting opportunity, please contact me.
Cluster’s events
Topical Tuesday was rolled into our major Health Day event during Birmingham Tech Week (see below) and is back in November with a presentation about the Precision Health Technologies Accelerator by Gino Martini, this event took place on the 1st of November, look out for the next TT event on the 6th of December.
We are planning our next webinar with Simon Spink of the WM Combined Authority about a workshop for business innovators. Details coming soon!
I want to start holding in person seminars in the New Year. Are members supportive of this? Please contact me with your views.
We were thrilled to be asked by Birmingham Tech to arrange the HealthTech Showcase during Birmingham Tech Week in October. The Health Day during Birmingham Tech Week 2022 was held on Thursday 13th October at the City Centre premises of solicitors DLA Piper. We have put together a brief overview of the event at the end of this bulletin but suffice to say it was a terrific success and we are enthusiastic to arrange more events like this where members can showcase their products, services and innovative ideas.
I can confirm that the programme has been settled for our second Annual Diagnostics Conference with University of Warwick which will be held at the university on Thursday 15 December. You can now register to attend – but hurry because it is sure to be a sell-out. You can find details of the programme and how to register below.
The next IHWG event will be held at Staffordshire University, this time we will be introduced to the world of health simulation and immersive technologies in health care. This includes a tour of the World Class facilities that use advances in VR and AR technology.
Our IHWG will have the opportunity to explore how new patient safety techniques are developed through cutting edge digital simulation and immersion suites. This is not to be missed!
Here is the link for the next IHWG
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES SECTOR NEWS
The Future of Diagnostics in European healthcare
Deloitte have released two reports based on a major research project plotting the present state of diagnostics industries in Europe and the UK and making significant recommendations for future transformation.
We assisted Deloitte with the research for these reports and we and they believe the future of diagnostics is integral to the future of everyone’s health and wellbeing and the future efficacy of healthcare services and preventive healthcare.
This co-dependency will transform the future of diagnostics. Deloitte have envisioned how three patient pathways might look in the future, and how these would contribute to a more predictive, preventative, personalised and participatory (4P) future of health:
- Disease prediction and screening: colorectal cancer screening
- Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of diagnosis: trauma patient assessment and treatment pathway
- Chronic condition remote patient monitoring – Chronic heart failure example.
Ministerial visits
As we all know, Government Ministers like to get out and visit the regions from time to time to promote the Government’s key policies and to learn more about the needs of local communities, including business communities. Sometimes, these visits arise with very little notice, so Paddie Murphy and I have had the idea of getting on the front foot by providing Ministers’ offices with HealthTech businesses and projects which they can visit if they come to the West Midlands.
We successfully liaised with the Department for International Trade and local businesses who would be of interest within that Department’s remit to produce a list of West Midlands companies willing to host or participate in Ministerial visits.
We have now offered the same service to the business Department, BEIS, and to the Department for Health and Social Care. If any member is interested in this approach and would like to discuss being part of this process, please contact me.
WEST MIDLANDS REGION NEWS
Second Annual Diagnostics Conference 15 December
Last year, we co-hosted a Diagnostics Conference with University of Warwick at the University’s Oculus Building. This hybrid online/in person event was hugely successful. That first conference considered how we can best exploit the commercial, scientific and health opportunities in diagnostics driven by the new knowledge, investment and innovation demonstrated by the UK diagnostics sector in response to Covid 19. This follow-on conference will consider the regional opportunities afforded by these developments and consider how we can best leverage our cross-sector strengths to build a world-leading diagnostics enterprise in the West Midlands.
You can view the programme and register for the conference here.
IPO Routemap and Forum for the West Midlands
This month, I attended the successful launch of the West Midlands IP Routemap and the IP Forum. This is a unique initiative from the Intellectual Property Office bringing together business and IP support professionals to work more closely to enhance their business offer.
Most importantly, it brings together the IPO and those professionals to ensure that more businesses will get connected to the support they need. There are now some great offers of free advice sessions for those who do not understand what they need to do to protect their Intellectual Property.
I have the contact details for the people involved in delivering the new Routemap services so please get in touch with me if you think the offer of free advice might be of benefit to your business.
Birmingham Business TV
I also went to the launch of Birmingham Business TV this month and I was excited to learn of this business-focused addition to news services for our region.
It’s a monthly business-to-business magazine-style show consisting of a mixture of news, interviews and panel-style debate, as well as expert advice, commentary and analysis. Filmed on location and in the Liquid Media Centre studio on Waterloo Street in Birmingham’s city centre, it brings a new and exciting way of informing and entertaining the business community of Birmingham and beyond.
Check it out here and see what you think.
As a direct result of attending, I got asked by the editor to write a “thought piece” for the November edition of Birmingham Business Magazine, so look out for my article next month.
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS
International Trade Week
From 31 October to 4 November 2022, International Trade Week is back and set to showcase a brand-new series of events designed to help businesses of all shapes and sizes maximise their global potential.
One year on from the launch of the Made in the UK, Sold to the World Export Strategy, these events will help businesses understand how to capitalise on opportunities secured by our new trade deals. Businesses will be able to find out more about key Export Strategy initiatives, such as the Export Support Service and the Export Academy.
There will be an Export Live day at the ICC on 02 November. Details can be found here.
maintain the UK’s readiness for being able to respond to future health emergencies and strengthen UK resilience.
I hope you enjoy reading my e-bulletin. Feel free to contact me personally with your feedback and suggestions for future activities at david@wmhtc.co.uk
Regards,
Executive Chair, October 2022