Digital Health and BCS partner on Rewired

Digital Health and BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, have strengthened ties by extending an existing collaboration to include Digital Health Rewired, the new two-day conference and one-day exhibition taking place on 25-26 March 2019 at London Olympia.

This extended partnership continues previous work around raising the profile and status of informatics and digital health as an emerging profession and discipline at the Digital Health Summer Schools, Leadership Summit, and Public Cyber Security events.

BCS, as the chartered body for IT and computing and a proud founding member of the new federation for informatics professional (FEDIP), is central to efforts to mobilise and realise the digital health agenda.

For the 2018 Summer Schools, BCS Health and Care and Digital Health partnered on a Future Digital Leader track and Research into Practice sessions.

BCS Health and Social Care chair, Andy Kinnear, and vice-chair Gareth Baxendale have joined the Rewired Programme Committee to help shape the programme, which focuses on joining up and integrating health and care through the transformational use of technology and new ways of working.

Kinnear said: “I am not sure everyone has grasped it yet, but the bottom line is clear: we are creating the health informatics profession right here, right now. We are passing major milestones year-on-year from launching the FEDP & Faculty of Clinical Informatics to kicking off a world class leadership programme through the NHS Digital Academy.

“This is happening because people passionate about driving our profession forward are bringing energy, focus and unrelenting commitment. Gathering to celebrate success so far, debate key issues and design the next steps is a vital ingredient to this continued journey.”

The Rewired Leadership Summit, which kicks off on day one of Digital Health Rewired, will bring together health CCIOs, CIOs and CNIOs with C-suite colleagues to address the leadership challenges of digital transformation.

Kinnear encouraged BCS Health and Care members to come and take part in Rewired.

“I hope my CIO and CCIO colleagues realise that their job, as professionals, is to engage in events like Rewired,” he said.

“It brings together the old and the new and provides a great chance to learn from original thinkers from both the NHS and industry, and to network and collaborate around key themes shaping the digitisation of health.

“Frankly, it is your professional responsibility to be part of this dialogue, to lift your head up from local issues and to listen and learn, as much as it is to stay back at the ranch focused on today’s issues”.

The programme is developing fast and speakers have already been confirmed, including: Dr Ben Goldacre, chair of the government’s new health tech advisory board; Ali Parsa, CEO of Babylon Health; Professor Neil Sebire, Director of Great Ormond Street Hospital’s new innovation and research unit DRIVE and Tom Whicher, NHS Innovation Fellow and founder of DrDoctor.

They feature on day two, devoted to the brand-new Digital Health Rewired Exhibition and Conference. This original programme will showcase some of the very best local and national work of digital trailblazers in health and care, highlighting the best work underway locally, nationally and internationally.

The exhibition and conference features five zones, with each focused on digital health developments linked to key disruptive technologies. Explore the AI and Analytics, Clinical Software, Cloud and Mobile, Digital Imaging and Cyber Security zones to meet expert suppliers, discover new case studies and develop future partnerships.

Rewired will bring together delegates drawn from the largest community of NHS IT leaders and diverse range of IT and clinical professionals working to achieve the benefits of digital health for all, coming together for education, networking, best practice exchange and collaboration.

Jon Hoeksma, CEO of Digital Health, said: “The partnership on Rewired deepens our relationship with BCS Health and Care on jointly working to accelerate the digitisation of UK health. We look forward to working with BCS on Rewired to help connect leaders with the disruptive technologies rapidly reshaping health and care.”

You can register your place for Digital Health Rewired here.