This event took place on Thursday 23 January 2020.

EPIC – eHealth Productivity and Innovation in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – has been bringing together digital technology businesses with health and care professionals, and patient and service user groups, to find technological solutions to improve health and wellbeing.  

This session will present how, locally, the EPIC project has succeeded in developing networks and helping small companies develop their products and services further. We will also show how, globally, ‘Testbed Cornwall’ is now a region to trial new digital products and services, from robots to health record systems.

The three-year project, funded by ERDF, presents a strong example of interdisciplinary working between health, arts, science, engineering and technology. It has brought considerable research impact for its positive effect on patients, carers and healthcare providers, and established foundations for a legacy of continuing innovation.  

Join the team behind EPIC and some of the SMEs that have benefitted from their support, to learn about the journey so far, the next steps for health technology in the region, and the opportunities available to be part of the next generation of eHealth research at the University of Plymouth through its newly-launched Centre of Health Technology.

Programme:

12:00 | Arrival, light lunch and exhibition with SME demonstrations

13:00 | Welcome

Local

13:15 | Introduction: EPIC and local successes in Cornwall by Professor Ray Jones

Followed by students who have acted as digital health champions talking about their experience and contribution to EPIC, and then demonstrations from three Cornish companies (two software, one robotics) supported by EPIC and the knowledge transfer process:

  • Richard Wyatt Haynes, HCI. Transforming healthcare with digital information.
  • Jake Gibson Sutton Shaw, Robotriks. Robotics-focused research and development company.  
  • Richard Doig, Hug. Developed a holistic platform to analyse employee wellbeing and match smart benefits to employee needs. 

14:30 | Tea/coffee break

Global: EPIC-2-SWITCH

14:45 | Incubating, scaling-up and importing innovations through the Cornwall Testbed - case studies from Finland and Ireland by Dr Arunangsu Chatterjee, Associate Professor of Digital Health & Education at University of Plymouth, and Lloyd Taylor, Research Assistant at University of Plymouth

15:00 | How Cornish entrepreneurs can access ORCHA expertise through EPIC2 and SWITCH by Liz Ashall-Payne, Founding CEO of ORCHA

15:20 | Collaborating, importing and exporting opportunities in digital health innovation with a Spanish eHealth Ecosystem by Gisela Garcia-Alvarez, Managing Director of Galician Health Ecosystem, Cluster Saúde de Galicia, Spain

15:40 | Harnessing the global infrastructure and reach of IBM to scale-up South West Digital Health Innovation by John McNamara, UK University Program Leader at IBM

16:00 | Discussion: The scope for increased inter-disciplinary collaboration between the University, companies, and health and care providers

Who is this event for?
This event will be of particular interest to colleagues in science and engineering, such as computing and robotic engineering; arts, health or medicine; and anyone who works with digital technology. It may also appeal to those who work in Derriford Hospital and the NHSTrusts, those in community groups that support patient wellbeing, health-related charities, and further education providers.

Our guest speakers

Liz Ashall-Payne, Founding CEO at ORCHA

Liz founded the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Application (ORCHA), determined to present a way to offer much needed guidance to app developers to help raise app quality, as well as helping the public and professionals to confidently find and apply apps that could genuinely improve public, patient and organisational outcomes.

Gisela Garcia-Alvarez, Managing Director at the Galician Health Cluster, Spain

Gisela Garcia-Alvarez, Doctor in Biochemistry by education and citizen of the world by vocation, has more than 15 years of experience in health systems in Europe and Asia. Her interest in management led her to direct the first health and life sciences cluster in Singapore in 2010, combining it with her research and teaching activities. Life brought her to Galicia where she has been working as Managing Director of the Galician Health Cluster since the end of 2016.

John McNamara, UK University Programme Leader at IBM

John is the IBM UK University Program Leader, a Senior Inventor, Research Fellow, Impact Fellow and currently provides technical leadership for the IBM Hursley Innovation Centre. He has a diverse background that includes consultancy, performance, service & product delivery, all underpinned by a passion for innovation. 

Most recently, his work leading the Innovation Centre technologist team has allowed him to combine these interests in order to maximise the potential of new technology while solving real problems. 

John has overseen the delivery of many cognitive cloud-based solutions and understands how to combine technologies to quickly provide value for customers. He is an active inventor with an invention portfolio spanning mobile, A.I, messaging, integration and predictive analytics.

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eHealth Productivity and Innovation in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (EPIC)

EPIC is a collaborative project partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund with additional financial support from the South West Academic Health Science Network. The University of Plymouth and partners aim to improve the use of eHealth in Cornwall.

We aim to improve the use of technology in both health and social care hoping:

  • to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
  • and improve the Cornish economy in this sector.

Find out more about EPIC

Follow @EPIC_eHealth on Twitter.

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