Press release by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd
Finnish health and wellbeing expertise to be showcased at HIMSS & Health 2.0 Conference & Exhibition on 7–11 September7
The HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Health Conference & Exhibition, which is a top digital healthcare event in Europe, will be held entirely online on 7–11 September. Finnish healthcare and social welfare innovations and operators in the sector will be strongly featured at this event. More than 3,000 visitors from around the world are expected to attend the event.
This year, the themes of the Conference reflect the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent growing need for digital health and wellbeing solutions.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd will bring together a wide range of Finnish experts in healthcare and social welfare at the event. The main theme of the event is the importance of digitalisation in managing the COVID-19 crisis.
Other key themes of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health are the utilisation of health and social data in research, innovation development and knowledge-based management, and the possibilities of using technology to support older people to live at home. Both of these themes will highlight the use of artificial intelligence and robotics.
Kirsi Varhila, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, will deliver the opening speech at the event. Päivi Sillanaukee, Finnish Ambassador for Health and Wellbeing, will chair a meeting of a high-level international advisory group at the event. Sillanaukee will also participate in the opening panel of the Conference together with Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, and Gottfried Ludewig, Director General for Digitalisation and Innovation at the Federal Ministry of Health of Germany, the country currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Finnish health technology expertise featured in virtual smart home for older people
Those attending the digital event will have an opportunity to visit a virtual smart home for older people where they can learn about technological solutions designed to support living at home and home care and discuss with exhibitors and other visitors through avatars. The idea of the smart home concept designed by the VTT Technical Research Centre is to show that ageing does not prevent people from living at home in the future.
The smart home is mainly built on solutions made by Finnish companies. Finland collaborates with Japan in developing health technology for older people, and thanks to this, the smart home also contains solutions designed by Japanese partners.
In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will showcase the secondary use of social and health data in research and innovation activities at its stand. The Finnish legislation on the secondary use of health and social data is unique and it has attracted a lot of international attention. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about, for example, the work and services of Findata, the Health and Social Data Permit Authority, and the open data of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare that has been successfully utilised to manage the COVID-19 epidemic.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will organise a separate event on the development of the European health data environment in connection with the Conference. The aim is to develop practices and solutions that will enable a better use of health data in patient care and research across Europe while ensuring data security and compliance with ethical principles. A recording of this event will be shown as part of the Conference.
The HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Health Conference & Exhibition was held in Helsinki for the first time in 2019. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will collaborate with the international Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and its Finnish partners in organising the event until 2022.
Inquiries
Jukka Lähesmaa, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 29 516 139, firstname.lastname@stm.fi
Antti Piirainen, Antti Piirainen, Head of Communications, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare & Findata, tel. +358 29 524 7644, firstname.lastname@findata.fi
Marketta Niemelä, D. Soc.Sc., VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, tel. +358 40 574 6549, marketta.niemela@vtt.fi (smart home)