New CeBIT conference on Wearable Technologies & Digital Health

29 – 30 September at Ameron Hotel Königshof, Bonn, Germany
The global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that about 23 million wearables were sold worldwide in 2014 and is forecasting this figure to grow to more than 150 million by 2019. “Wearables is a megatrend that has major implications for all sectors, including the healthcare sector. The disruptive power of digitization in the form of wearables, apps, big data and smart services is poised to revolutionize traditional modes of interaction and communication between clinicians, patients, health insurers and the pharmaceuticals industry,” said Marius Felzmann, the Senior Vice President in charge of CeBIT at Deutsche Messe AG. “As the organizers of CeBIT, we will be exploring this aspect of digitization at a special conference that we are organizing in partnership with Euroforum.”
The simplification of data collection and analysis made possible by digitization will benefit providers of healthcare diagnostic and treatment services. It also promises health insurers a whole range of new options for designing and managing their no/low-claims bonus programs. These ideas, and how to go about implementing them, are among the topics that will be discussed at the new CeBIT Wearable Technologies & Digital Health conference. The conference will be chaired by Professor Kurt Becker (Apollon University of Applied Sciences) and will feature a range of healthcare experts, including Stephan Klaschka (CEO, German Institute for Telemedicine and Health Promotion – DITG), Georg Aumayr (Head of R&D, St John Austria), and Max Wunderlich (Head of Health Management at the German health insurer Central Krankenversicherung AG). The conference will be held on 29 and 30 September this year at the Ameron Hotel Königshof in Bonn, Germany.
The future of healthcare hinges on digital innovation
The program for the CeBIT Wearable Technologies & Digital Health conference reflects the imperative of technological innovation in the healthcare sector. The conference will, for example, examine all technical and legal aspects of wearables in healthcare. Likewise, experts will give presentations on applications that promise to streamline diagnostics and treatment in clinical practice. Other key topics include big health data, options for innovative, cost-saving programs for health insurers, and self care as a point of intersection between the Quantified Self movement and the healthcare system.
Experts discuss co-creation via live feed from USA
During the afternoon of the first day of the conference, Stefan Herzberg and Karen Tilstra, the co-founders of the Florida Hospital Innovation Lab, will report via live feed on their experience of “co-creation as a way to deal with digitalization and other challenges in healthcare.” Co-creation is the collaborative approach that the FHIL team takes to solving challenges in its organization. FHIL brings together people from diverse areas of medicine so that they can collaboratively improve efficiency within their organization and thereby deliver better care to patients.
 
Startup pitches and the latest wearables
As well as technical presentations, the conference will feature startup pitches in which young enterprises like Glasschair, Health Natives and IT Solutions for Deaf (itSofD) will present their pioneering business models. Glasschair, for example, is a Google Glass app that helps people with disabilities to maintain their mobility and independence by enabling them to control their electric wheelchairs via head movements and voice commands. Attendees will be able to test out these and other cutting-edge solutions on the “Wearables Spielwiese” (Wearables Playground).
The full program for the CeBIT Wearable Technologies & Digital Health conference can be downloaded from www.euroforum.de/wearables.