Latvian Biomedicine ecosystem and OuluHealth collaborate

Latvian biomedicine ecosystem and OuluHealth have started a practical collaboration by connecting networks and introducing relevant companies and stakeholders from both sides enabling new interaction and growth.

2 practical seminars with introductions from Oulu and Latvian ecosystem leaders are being organized in autumn 2021 and will be continued also in 2022.

The health and life science sector of Oulu includes about a hundred thriving companies that develop solutions to answer challenges in the healthcare sector. These companies belong to OuluHealth, which is one of the leading health ecosystems in the Nordics.  

OuluHealth is largely focusing on digital health solutions and open collaboration to accelerate innovation by bringing various partners together. The ecosystem is very diversified- from wearables and knowledge in printed electronics relevant for medical and life science purposes, to medical imaging and 5G.

 “We are happy to cooperate with Latvian companies and startups as OuluHealth Labs is open for companies interested to test their products and services and getting direct feedback from healthcare professionals and end users,“ explains Minna Komu, Oulu Health Network director. 

3 lab paths are available for product or service development and training staff:

Oamk SimLab - 7 versatile simulated learning environments. It consists of simulation studios as well as lab environments of different professional health care areas. It is possible to utilize both students’ from different study programs and teachers’ feedback during testing and development processes. 

Oulu WelfareLab enables developing new solutions and innovating with real end-users: customers, patients and professionals in social and healthcare centers and homes. This model has been co-created by social and healthcare services in the City of Oulu.

OYS TestLab - located in the Oulu University hospital (patient restricted area) –a test environment for specialized health care products and services. There it is possible to replicate various hospital units, such as an operating theatre, clinics, wards and control rooms.  It offers facilities and feedback needed to test and develop products or services in an authentic hospital environment and with genuine users.

DigiHealth hub is welcoming data innovation through collaborative R&D.

“Latvian and Oulu ecosystems have both interest in advancing new companies based on data use. Other areas – from wearables and learning from novel solution use within the hospitals is a valuable experience that we hope to further build on” comments Anna Janberga, LIAA technology scout for biomedicine.

Data specialization is quite unique in Oulu and it enables increasing expertise and capability in the health data management and modelling as well as enabling data and knowledge transfer between the universities, research teams and companies. 

In addition, the competence is also very valuable for startups and other companies building data analytics and AI tools. Oulu is constantly investing in digital health innovations especially by increasing the expertise in the secondary use of data for R&D purposes.

For the future projects Oulu is welcoming cooperation within Horizon Europe and Digital Europe research program frameworks aimed at creating new tools for using health data.

The mutually beneficial cooperation can be developed by connecting companies, research institutes and hospital operators.

Hospitals have an important stake in the innovation ecosystem, for example, Esko EHR was the world’s first electronic health record system and it was developed by the Oulu University Hospital rather than by a company.

Both in Latvia and in Finland hospitals are looking for new solutions that are improving their work or making the patient experience more enjoyable and digital.

Oulu is the city with ongoing Future Hospital - OYS 2030 program, which aims to turn Oulu University Hospital into one of the smartest hospitals in the world. By using technologies and automating processes, patient driven and more human care can be offered allocating more time to customers. The hospital is in a construction phase and will be finalized by 2030, substituting the old hospital with a new.