The combination of digital technology with traditional medical devices and pharmaceuticals has led to exciting new developments in healthcare, allowing for more efficient, effective and personalised healthcare delivery. The interdisciplinary field of digital health encompasses everything from remote GP consultations via video calls and wearable fitness trackers, to AI-powered diagnostics and drug discovery, with artificial intelligence allowing for analysis of vast amounts of data at speeds previously impossible.
Digital health is a rapidly evolving field with the potential to transform healthcare systems worldwide, and Ireland is at the cutting edge, with the potential to be a global leader.
“There is consensus across the industry that digital health is becoming a key strategic imperative for both medtech and pharma organisations,” says Jennifer McCormack, network manager of Ibec’s Connected Health Skillnet. “The digital health sector is expected to grow by 17.4 per cent between 2021 and 2027, reaching €426 billion internationally.”
With a strong foreign direct investment sector in medical and pharma, the conditions are right to develop a thriving health tech ecosystem here. Ireland is already home to 195 companies engaging in digital health, nestled among the more than 450 medtech and 900 tech companies operating on the island, and bolstered by the cluster effect and a workforce with relevant skills and experience.
READ MORE
Medtech start-up Medihive, which attracted Gareth Lambe, formerly head of Meta in Ireland, to serve as its chief executive last year, is a prime example of a company flourishing within the ecosystem.
Not only can companies benefit from grants and attractive supports, such as the 25 per cent research and development (R&D) tax credit, but the State also offers a supportive environment for innovation in digital health, on top of a well-regarded regulatory environment.
Ibec has launched a campaign – Where Digital Health Thrives – built around its vision for Ireland to become a recognised global hub for digital health. It also set out on a future skill needs analysis, focused on digital health skills for the medtech and biopharma sectors in Ireland.
“It involved significant industry and stakeholder engagement in Ireland and abroad, learning from other ecosystems of excellence to understand the skills and jobs roles that supported their digital health success,” says McCormack. “A key output of that research was the development of a Digital Health Skills Framework, which maps the full spectrum of skills needed across the value chain, from R&D to product approval, commercialisation and eventual end-user adoption.”
This is now informing the co-creation of niche programmes with industry and training partners, such as the needs-led Digital Health Innovation Programme, which is now entering its second year at dConnect, based in the Regional Development Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology, after a successful pilot programme in 2023. Tailored to companies in Ireland’s health technology sectors, it aims to “embed the mindset and methodology of needs-led innovation,” to ensure companies are responding to the needs of the market.
The HSE’s plans are outlined in Digital for Care – A Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024-2030, which sets out the aims to digitally transform health services and improve access for patients.
Meanwhile, a new interdisciplinary research programme at Lero, the University of Limerick-based Research Centre for Software, is making strides in the use of technology to help older people to live independently, a matter of great concern for our ageing population. A two-year €140,000 research programme focusing on technology-enabled care (TEC) in home environments is being part-funded by Shannon-headquartered Ei Electronics.
Lero researcher associate professor Katie Crowley says that while TEC in home environments currently includes support items such as motion sensors and panic buttons, further technological innovations can help people to function safely and remain at home longer.
“For the elderly, having a fear of falling significantly increases the chance of having a fall, and emerging evidence suggests that having monitoring technology reduces this fear, leading to improved mobility for the older person,”
McCormack says the digitalisation of healthcare has the potential to fundamentally alter how we diagnose, treat and care for people: “The boundaries of this new and exciting field have yet to be fully defined and are likely to expand over time as advances in digital technology and life sciences bring new therapies and applications into being.”
