First RLS-Digital Health Initiative Workshop

On 8 and 9 November, 2021, the RLS-Digital Health Initiative met online for its first independent workshop. The workshop was designed to create an opportunity for participants from the RLS partner regions to exchange on topics related to digital health from their regional and research perspectives.

The impetus for the RLS-Digital Health Initiative came from Bavaria and first exchanges took place during the RLS Virtual Roundtable on COVID-19 hosted by Upper Austria in September 2020. In continuity, the inaugural workshop was opened with statements from political representatives in Bavaria and Upper Austria. Speakers from Bavaria, Georgia, Québec, Shandong, and Upper Austria presented to nearly 50 participants out of the regions over the two days. The workshop included presentations, discussions, and question-and-answer sessions covering digital health topics out of the RLS partner regions including AI applied to healthcare and medicine, the perspective of clinicians and practitioners on new developments in digital health, responsibility and ethics, and more.

To prepare for future collaborative work, Dr. Sebastian Bickelhaupt presented a joint roadmap for the group to discuss and further develop together. The roadmap created with regional perspectives will guide the next stages of the group as they advance together, and is currently under review.

Review the program here.