Testimony

Swiss Hacking Health: The Secret Of An Amazing Longevity

After five successful editions, Arkathon, the Hacking Health Switzerland-Valais‘ hackathon is one of the most important health hackathons in Switzerland. A must for the country’s disruptive minds!

How does such an event work? Immersed in a medical facility over a weekend, participants meet with health professionals and patients to develop innovative solutions to solve their health challenges. At the end of these 48 intense hours, the objective is to present a jury of experts concrete digital solutions to address health issues. Each year, the three winners are followed by an acceleration program offered by The Ark Foundation and Swiss Digital Health.

>> Discover the after movie of the last Arkathon’s edition

A robust ecosystem: a work over the years

In the tradition of Hacking Health’s events, Arkathon infused its spirit of innovation and create strong synergies between very diversified stakeholders: academics, institutes and health professionals, patient associations, industry, start-ups,… Partnerships have been created over the years between the actors of digital health innovation: The Ark Foundation, Swiss Digital Health, the Clinique Romande de réadaptation, the Valais hospital site, the HES-SO Valais/Wallis, EPFL Valais/Wallis, GRIMM, the Institut de Recherche en réadaptation, etc.

>> Discover the interviews of the jury about the last Arkathon’s edition

This type of events accelerates projects and immediately detects their technical feasibility and economic potential,” explains Sébastien Mabillard, organizing member of Arkathon HH Switzerland – Valais. ” For the past 5 years, acceleration programs have been offered to hackathon winners by Swiss Digital Health and the Ark Foundation. It’s a way to get these nuggets to market quickly. Our objective is to encourage the emulation of projects with our partners and to support solution providers to “feed” the innovation cluster with viable prototypes to quickly respond to the needs of the field.

Many success stories around the Arkathon of Hacking Health Valais

Recently, a start-up company, Transcend, created by three Valais computer science students, has developed an innovative training tool for high-tech rescue, based on virtual reality technologies. Another hat off to the start-up Eyeware, which has just raised a significant sum of €1.9 million for its eye-tracking system. These two solutions have hatched during previous editions of the Arkathon and are now shining on national and international markets!

>> Discover the interview of three winners’ teams of the last Arkathon’s edition

Join the community and hack tomorrow’s health !

Curious about our event? Do you want to participate in the 2020 edition and contribute its extraordinary longevity with us? Click here to find more information.

Our team of 4, Sébastien Mabillard, Nadia Mottier, Joël Rossier and Frédérique Décaillet, is looking forward to welcoming you to the Valais Alps!

 

Delphine DavanSwiss Hacking Health: The Secret Of An Amazing Longevity
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The Volunteer Factor

I joined the Hacking Health Ottawa (HHO) chapter in August 2016. I was working in health at the time and looking for new ways to bring together diverse stakeholders. I came across a post on Twitter about this thing called a Hackathon, and it was focused on health. I reached out to learn more and was invited to the chapter team meeting and a smaller event they had coming up. It was a great way to learn about Hacking Health, the people who make it all happen, and the work they do.

I came across a post on Twitter // I reached out to learn more

Throughout those first few weeks, I met students and professionals of all ages working in health, design, engineering, business, and government. The diversity of event participants was reflected in the make-up of the HHO team. The quality of speakers, engagement of participants and dedication of the chapter’s volunteers was inspiring. I still didn’t really understand what a developer did or how ‘ideation’ was different from ‘brainstorming,’ but it didn’t matter.

This was a learning journey, and it culminated in a three-day event each year called a hackathon, where a DJ is a must, energy is contagious, and people don’t want to leave (seriously…we had to kick people out at the end of each day).

There is always a moment during our events where someone realizes HHO is 100% powered by volunteers.

There is always a moment during our events where someone realizes HHO is 100% powered by volunteers. Even though we thank and recognize our volunteers at the beginning and end of every event, it can often take folks a few events for it to really sink in. Their eyes light up, and they can’t believe it. You do all this in your spare time the say. Yes, we do. We work with amazing, dedicated people who show up, roll up their sleeves and make the impossible possible year over year. I can’t thank our team of volunteers enough for their generosity and commitment to HHO.

As a volunteer myself, I have gained so much more than I have given. I have learned new skills, expanded my professional network, met so many talented people and been inspired by their stories of success and failure.

Never underestimate The Volunteer Factor. It lifts us up each and every day.

My learning journey continues, and I am grateful for all those who have and continue to make HHO a reality. The volunteers, the community, the health care partners and the sponsors. Thank you.

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Karine Dietrich is Partnership & Sponsorship Lead at the Ottawa Hacking Health chapter. She’s also Vice-President, Public Engagement and Knowledge Mobilization at Volunteer Canada, and owns a B.A. in Criminology with a concentration in law from the Carlton University.

 

Delphine DavanThe Volunteer Factor
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Dutch Hacking Health: It’s All about the Mix (Janssen BeNeLux)

Making a breakthrough in the health care sector in just three days: It seems like an almost impossible task. And yet this is exactly what Dutch Hacking Health—an event that really can accelerate innovation—aims to achieve! The fourth Dutch Hacking Health was held in the first two weeks of April, with health care hackathons organized in five cities (Amsterdam, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht). I am proud to be contributing to the event on behalf of Janssen.

Creative Solutions

A hackathon works a little like a pressure cooker. For three days, driven, multidisciplinary teams work toward finding a solution to a challenge in the health care sector. On the last day, they present the end result to a local jury. The worlds of designers, IT specialists, health care professionals, and patients come together to create a fascinating mix.

With his bright red tee-shirt, M. Erik Gerritsen, Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, is a fervent supporter of the Dutch Hacking Health ecosystem.

A hackathon starts with a specific problem. For example, how do you as a patient or a relative of a patient stay on top of what is going on during a hospital stay? Often, it can be difficult to form a complete picture based on the fragmented information you receive from nurses or doctors. Sometimes it can feel like you’re no longer in control. During Dutch Hacking Health 2018, this challenge was successfully addressed by a team at Bravis hospital. Since then, software company ChipSoft and the hospital have been working together to put the improved Mijn Zorgteam patient portal to the test. This is a result that will directly benefit patients and their relatives.

This year, Dutch Hacking Health will focus on specific themes at various locations. Participants in Nijmegen will tackle challenges relating to future-proofing the labor market in the health care sector and local health care provision. In Utrecht, personalized care is top of the agenda. Amsterdam will look at a mix of topics, including delivering the right care in the right place, as well as mental health. Rotterdam and Maastricht have opted for an open format, where participants will be able to look at challenges relating to various topics.

Janssen’s Role

Sponsors’ logos are displayed on all tee-shirts

Innovations that arise from a hackathon or start as an initiative within a hospital can often also be implemented in other hospitals. By looking at these kinds of innovations with the right partners from industry, we can generate additional power to give high-potential innovations that extra boost. Janssen is keen to play a role in this process. With our broad portfolio of innovative medicines, we see it as our responsibility to work together with hospitals, patient organizations, and, for example, tech companies to accelerate the learning process that’s involved in health care innovation and, through these partnerships, to contribute to improving the Dutch health care sector. With this goal in mind, Janssen has this year become a proud national partner of Dutch Hacking Health for the first time, alongside Deloitte, Vosko, Cisco, and the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.

As a project manager, I will support the organization this year by helping to coordinate the local hackathons at a national level — which will be a great challenge! In the future, we also want to work with the various local organizers and national partners to create a more professional and sustainable national organization.

“With our broad portfolio of innovative medicines, we see it as our responsibility to work together with hospitals, patient organizations, and, for example, tech companies to accelerate the learning process that’s involved in health care innovation”

I know from my own experience how much positive energy there is buzzing around during health care hackathons. You work together with teammates from a wide range of backgrounds and truly learn about the people behind a specific challenge. This way of working helps you produce some truly creative and fitting solutions. At the hackathons, I met people with the same passion. Everyone puts all their effort into coming up with a solution to a challenge instead of focusing on problems. I brought this positive energy back with me when I returned to Janssen. Inspired by last year’s hackathon, I now focus even more on the person/patient in my day-to-day work.

Dutch Hacking Health 2019

Hacking Health Nijmegen organizers: Concha van Rissjel (left) and Robin Hooijer (right)

Early April is when it all begins: In Amsterdam, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, a series of hackathons will take place over two weeks. At each event, you can see on a small scale what we need to do on a large scale to accelerate health care innovation in the Netherlands and to maintain affordability. To sum it up: It’s all about working together. If we take the time to really understand a problem and leverage each other’s strengths, I am convinced that we can find even more innovative and patient-focused solutions.

 

On our shared journey to the health care of the future, it’s all about the mix.

If you’re curious about the power of the health care hackathon, why not join in? More information about hackathons in the Netherlands can be found here. Click through to the various locations and sign up in your favorite city.

 

Original text from Sander van Nuland, Project Specialist, Janssen BeNeLux

Delphine DavanDutch Hacking Health: It’s All about the Mix (Janssen BeNeLux)
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