On the 1st of March we visited the Mi-Idea Digital Health Startup event in Manchester.
Following the success of Mi-IDEA in the London, Cisco has partnered with Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) to create this post-accelerator with the aim of nurturing digital innovation in the North of England.
The main focusses of discussion included:
- Digital Health
- IoT
- Smart Cities
- Digital Creative
The event started with 30 minutes of networking, which saw an eclectic mix of people from different companies in the digital health sector, some hardware and app based, sharing ideas and insights.
First Talk: Matt Cooling – Cisco Innovation UKI
Matt introduced the Mi-IDEA program and its new location in Manchester. The program was created to help foster networking and discussions through the use of a multi-purpose space.
The ongoing purpose for the Mi-IDEA program is not only to help startups evolve in to thriving small businesses but to cultivate longterm partnerships where startups can grow in confidence and capability into sustainable businesses.
The Co-innovation hub was dubbed a place for Trailblazing applied research, to collaborate with industry partners, government research institutions, universities to solve real-world challenges of today.
Thanks for a great evening @mi_idea and @CiscoUKI! Look forward to potentially collaborating with you soon! #DigitalHealth pic.twitter.com/IOeJKFDTMx
— Hark. (@harksys) March 1, 2017
Second Talk: Marie Kane – NorthWest EHealth
Marie Kane from NorthWest EHealth spoke about how her organisation are working to develop software to improve clinical research to be faster and safer. They’ve worked with, among many, Salford Lung Studies for Gsk.
NWEH is based in CityLabs 1.0 and has a team of software engineers, database analysts, statisticians, researchers and support staff who develop leading software and services for health research. partnered with NHS and the University of Manchester.
Marie stated that the average time for a new clinical trial to be finished from the start is around 15 years. NWEHealth develop tools and services to aid in each area of the lifecycles from the outset.
It is not about big data. It is about data that make a big difference – Maria Kane at @mi_idea #DigitalHealth pic.twitter.com/l9yoz6V5ZM
— Hark. (@harksys) March 1, 2017
Third Talk: John Ainsworth – Connected Health Cities North
John’s presentation was mainly about the pace of change in Digital Health tech and opportunities to engage with Mi-IDEA. He stated that the north of the the UK was more prone to death than the south:
John Ainsworth from @CHCNorth gives own experience of pace of digital health tech change & opps to engage with @mi_idea @TweetsbyMSP pic.twitter.com/sXqemuY4Zc
— UoM Informatics (@Man_Inf) March 1, 2017
Professor Ainsworth of Connected Health Cities gave details of how the Mi-IDEA program will look to support and develop startups through access to real-world health data from which they can test and validate their products and services.
Talk Four: Graham Howieson – eLucid mHealth
Graham woke the audience with some pretty stark statistics in the world of Global Adherence in healthcare:
Patients forgetting, refusing or simply being unaware of the correct administration of drugs is costing the industry $650b a year.
Graham explained how an innovative new hardware product in partnership with an app created by eLucid mHealth has revolutionised how drugs are administered.
The smartphone app alerts the user when its time to take their prescription and clicking the alert dispenses the correct dosage to the patient.
The data collected is then tracked in their IoT platform and can be integrated into reminders, controlled dispensing, support and remote monitoring.
Their product is aimed primarily at broader patients and within the function of clinical trials, where all data is tracked back to the person running the trial and consumption of dosage is controlled.
Graham also spoke about the company’s funding, and gave a concise description of their work:
eLucid mHealth is a med-tech company developing patented open system cloud-based data driven solutions to identify and monitor non adhering patients and dedicated to clinical trial optimization.
Finally we had our second chance to network with like minded businesses which is always a great opportunity to meet new people and be exposed to new ideas – a mantra echoed by all of the speakers from the event who emphasised in their talks the importance of networking, especially at the nascent stages of a company’s growth.
For example, Marie Kane and John Ainsworth used to work together at one point, they now have separate businesses but still work on joint projects. Graham told us that he met his business partner at a networking event and now have £870k investment.
Mi-IDEA offers a great opportunity to network and get support from the best in the business. Matt Cooling alluded to bringing 2-3 major clients through the incubator each week, all of which meet with each company and attempt to help in anyway they can.
