MISSION: Future Healthcare
The healthcare of tomorrow begins today.
Rethinking healthcare means identifying opportunities earlier: risks before they become a burden; care needs before bottlenecks arise; and deploying technologies where they can effectively support people and healthcare professionals.
Many of the solutions that can make this possible are already being developed today. Freiburg brings together strong research, technological expertise, innovative companies and an efficient healthcare system within a compact area. MISSION: Future Healthcare brings this potential together and creates the space to develop joint solutions for tomorrow’s healthcare from these innovations.
The background:
Healthcare in a state of flux
Healthcare is facing a profound transformation. An ageing population, changing disease patterns and climate-related health risks are altering the demands placed on hospitals, doctors’ practices and emergency services. At the same time, the targeted deployment of specialist staff and resources is becoming increasingly important.
Freiburg is well-placed to actively shape this transformation. Artificial intelligence, robotics, digital health applications and the intelligent use of health, environmental and care data are opening up new opportunities to strengthen prevention, deploy resources more effectively and organise care in a more forward-looking manner.
The greatest potential arises where technological innovations, research and clinical practice converge to jointly develop new solutions for the healthcare of tomorrow.
„Freiburg hat hervorragende Voraussetzungen, um die Gesundheitsversorgung von morgen mitzugestalten: starke Forschung, innovative Unternehmen und eine leistungsfähige Universitätsmedizin. Entscheidend ist, diese Kompetenzen zusammenzubringen und aus guten Ideen konkrete Lösungen zu entwickeln. Genau dafür schafft die Jahreschallenge einen wichtigen Impuls.“
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Frederik Wenz Leitender Ärztlicher Direktor, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg
A shared challenge. A shared future.
The major issues in healthcare touch on many areas simultaneously – from research and technology, through hospitals and GP practices, to businesses, public administration and urban society. There is particularly great potential at the points where these areas intersect: where technological possibilities meet healthcare needs, where data reveals new connections, and where research finds its way into practical application.
The annual challenge, MISSION: Future Healthcare, addresses this very issue and channels the region’s innovative strength towards a shared question for the future:
How can innovative technologies and the smart use of health, environmental and utility data strengthen healthcare provision in Freiburg in the long term?
Freiburg is well placed to achieve this. A wide range of projects, technologies and ideas with the potential to further develop healthcare are emerging in the fields of research, business and healthcare. MISSION: Future Healthcare brings these activities together over the course of a year and creates new links between knowledge, data, technologies, infrastructure and application. These connections can give rise to new solutions, collaborations and development opportunities. Areas of expertise complement one another, projects gain fresh impetus, and technological innovations find their way into healthcare more quickly.
Individual projects thus give rise to a shared innovation process aimed at developing healthcare provision in Freiburg in a way that is fit for the future, and at enabling technological innovation to make an impact where it can strengthen healthcare provision in the long term.
Wanted: Projects and initiatives in the following areas of action:
Health, environmental and supply data are generated every day in hospitals, doctors’ surgeries, research institutions, businesses and local authorities. At present, this data is mostly stored in separate systems and can only be shared to a limited extent. Interoperable data integration creates the technical and organisational conditions necessary to link this data securely, in a standardised manner and in compliance with data protection regulations. This makes it possible to identify correlations, gain a better understanding of trends and establish a shared data foundation for research, healthcare and innovation.
Artificial intelligence opens up new possibilities for analysing complex data sets and deriving insights for healthcare. It can help to predict care needs, identify risks at an early stage and provide data-driven support for medical and organisational decisions. From forecasting the workload in an A&E department to identifying regional health risks, new opportunities are emerging to organise care in a more forward-looking way.
A sustainable healthcare system is created through the collaboration of many different stakeholders. Digital connectivity links hospitals, doctors’ practices, research institutions, businesses, local authorities and other partners across organisational and sectoral boundaries. It facilitates the secure exchange of information, promotes joint innovation processes and lays the foundations for closer collaboration throughout the entire care chain.
Human and infrastructural resources are increasingly becoming a crucial factor in the healthcare sector. Digital technologies make it possible to provide greater transparency regarding capacity, better assess care needs and coordinate processes more efficiently. Data-driven analyses and digital assistance systems can help to deploy staff more effectively, optimise processes and deliver care where it is needed.
Digital technologies open up new possibilities for approaching health not only when illness strikes, but also for identifying risks at an early stage and supporting personalised preventative measures. The intelligent integration of health, environmental and healthcare data enables personalised approaches that support people through different stages of life and align healthcare more closely with prevention, early detection and individual needs.
The innovation process
The Annual Challenge combines practical innovation work with knowledge exchange within the innovation ecosystem. To this end, the one-year process is divided into two interlinked components: the Innovation Lab and knowledge transfer.
Innovation
Lab In the Innovation Lab, the participating stakeholders work on specific challenges within their projects, guided by a structured methodology. Needs and points of connection are identified, expertise is pooled, and potential solutions are jointly developed and tested.
Knowledge Transfer
The Knowledge Transfer component makes the activities, insights and progress of the Annual Challenge visible and accessible. In this way, knowledge is shared and new collaborations are initiated.
Together, these two components create an innovation process that connects projects, makes knowledge accessible and generates an impact that extends beyond the Annual Challenge.
“Freiburg combines excellent research, strong technological expertise and an innovative business community. Through the Annual Challenge, we bring these strengths together, foster new ideas and strengthen Freiburg’s position as a dynamic hub of innovation.”
Jens Mohrmann Geschäftsführer FWTM, Innovationsstandort / Wirtschaftsförderung
“Complex challenges require a structured innovation process. Through BadenCampus and smartXhealth, we provide methodological support for the annual challenge – from establishing a shared understanding of the problem, through developing new approaches to solutions, right through to testing them.”
Dr. Thomas Scheuerle Geschäftsführer BadenCampus
Good to know!
The FAQs contain further information about the annual challenge, its objectives and background, as well as answers to the most important questions about the format.
Your contact person
Alessandra Milano
Officer at the Freiburg Innovation Alliance Foundation; Head
of Communications for the Käpsele Innovation Festival