Innova Flanders

Re-imagining healthcare

Joan Van Loon, Managing Director & Board member, IBM Client Innovation Center and Chair of AmCham Belgium's Innovative Healthcare Committee

We are living in peculiar times, and I am not referring to any geopolitical or other crises. Technology is all around us, data is growing at enormous speed, and we are not able to exploit its full value.

Digital invaders are taking over sectors where they have no legacy. They disrupt industries by taking out costs and unnecessary layers and complexity, with the infusion of digital technology. 

There is a new playing field with new and different rules.

And probably even more so in the healthcare sector, which has gone through many disruptions already with shifting demographics, the growth of chronic and lifestyle diseases, skills shortages, the push for value-based, affordable quality care and the impact of technological advancements.

To survive, healthcare needs to be prepared. To survive, healthcare needs to know how to make use of the many new sources of data available. Healthcare needs to adopt digital technologies as a new source for creating value.

A new way of interacting with patients and citizens. A new way to create insights. A new way to reduce waste and inefficiency. A new way to collaborate with different stakeholders.

As AmCham Belgium’s Innovative Healthcare Committee (IHC), a cross-sectoral community, we strive to bring these stakeholders together, to advise policymakers and to have an impact on healthcare innovation.

Therefore, AmCham Belgium is very happy to be present at Innova Flanders on June 15-17 in Ghent. It’s the platform – for different industries – to “make innovation real”. And I am honored to represent the IHC and hope to inspire you with examples of technological innovation in healthcare.

AI and digital technology will transform the world in dramatic ways in the coming years. How will you leverage this to create value and personalize your customers’ experience? Are you ready to create and capture the moment? Are you ready to invest in unfamiliar territory?

See you there!