December Newsletter

Don't miss the 12th Annual Digital Health & Care Conference

Holyrood Connect’s 12th annual Digital Health and Care conference will return to Edinburgh on 21st and 22nd February 2023. The event will bring together health and social care professionals from across the country to explore how digital solutions are vital in the recovery and remobilisation of the NHS and social care system as we learn to live with COVID-9 and will explore the most exciting developments taking place across the digital health and social care landscape. The event is free to attend for those working in the public or third sectors.

Innovation functionality on Public Contracts Scotland is now live

On 1st December 2022, new functionality was added to the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) Portal to allow buying organisations to carry out the procurement of innovation more efficiently. The new functionality includes the addition of 3 new notice types – Preliminary Market Consultation notice, Pre-Commercial Procurement notice and  Pre-Commercial Procurement award notice. A Supplier Collaboration Tool functionality has also been created to allow you to identify potential collaborators within PCS, in relation to a specific opportunity.

National Digital Platform launched: Laying the foundation for a health and social care revolution

A new National Digital Platform (NDP) for Scotland is set to transform the range of digital services that are on offer to help people manage their care and live healthier lives. The platform is a collaborative effort, designed and delivered by NES along with multiple partners from across health and social care.

How the platform will benefit Scotland:

• It will allow individuals better access and control over their health and social care data, so they can make informed decisions about their own health.
• With better access to data, staff can make better decisions about care. Planners and researchers can improve the efficiency of that care.
• Potential developers know there is a standard approach to digital infrastructure and can access components and services to speed up developments.

More information about the platform, and case studies about how it is already helping are available here.

Scottish med-tech firm to double workforce after trials with Boeing

A Scottish med-tech firm is doubling its workforce after its emergency in-flight assistive device technology for medical emergencies was supported by Boeing. Aiber, based in Edinburgh and Inverness, is expanding its headcount after successful six-month trials with the aircraft manufacturer, where it’s ‘carry onboard’ solution was evaluated.

Mask Logic awarded £50k in the main Scottish EDGE competition

NHS Tayside Innovation has been working with companies to research and develop re-usable FFP3 equivalent facemasks as part of the Haarsain SBRI.  The companies developed prototype solutions and carried out field testing at NHS Tayside. One of these companies is Mask Logic Ltd and they have become winners of the prestigious Scottish EDGE competition because of the work that they have done alongside NHS Tayside Innovation.  The Scottish EDGE competition is aimed at identifying and supporting Scotland’s up-and-coming, innovative, high-growth entrepreneurial talent.

Catch up on the launch of Usher Innovation Community

Following the recent webinar marking the launch of the new Usher Innovation Community, we’re pleased to let you know that a recording of the webinar is now available to watch on demand! The Usher Innovation Community supports collaboration between academics, service professionals and industry, to identify, evaluate, validate, and adopt new solutions to transform the delivery of care and improve outcomes for people. Find out more about the Usher Innovation Community here.

Health & Care Transformation 2023 Annual Conference

Scotland’s largest conference for digital health and care returns next spring, bringing together key stakeholders engaged in transforming healthcare services in Scotland. As the NHS recovers and remobilises, Health & Care Transformation 2023 will analyse how the post-pandemic service paradigm is shifting ever more towards digitisation and technology to better manage demand and improve care. This full-day event will take place on 30th March 2023 at the Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow.

Transforming Public Services Leveraging Cloud, Data & AI to build next generation services

Service technologies are helping organisations to harness the power of data, artificial intelligence in a new wave of public service innovation. This event will look at how collaboration is key to simplifying and automating the processes that underpin services to improve responsiveness and reduce the opportunity for things to go wrong. This full-day event will take place on 19th January 2023 at the Technology and Innovation Centre in Glasgow.

2022 Bionow Awards Competition

The Bionow Awards are given to honour those most deserving for their ingenuity and dedication, distinguishing them from their competitors and proving them worthy of recognition.

• Has your company secured an impressive Investment Deal?
• Are you working with Outstanding Scientists / Technologists on innovative Projects?
• Have you seen a growth in your sales from International Markets?

If so, now is the time to apply!

Transforming Diabetes Care Through Innovation

The DHI was commissioned by the Scottish Government to lead a consultation supporting the acceleration of digital diabetes innovation opportunities across Scotland. As part of this request, the DHI created an online survey, which was distributed in the Summer 2022. Following this piece of research DHI has produced a Transforming Diabetes Care Through Innovation – Summary and Key Findings Report.

The EU Connecting Health Project

Scottish Enterprise is working on an EU Horizon-funded project with partners across Europe called Connecting Health. The project is focused is on mapping the EU digital health ecosystem, understanding the future, and building links across Europe. The project is looking to map the landscape of digital health ecosystems in Europe will help identify the composition, key initiatives, projects, networks as well as governmental, societal, academic, and industrial partners. Scottish Enterprise are running workshops on Virtual Clinical trials on 18th January 2023, Digital Health Data on 19th January 2023 and a workshop on Personalised Nutrition in February 2023. A full list of workshops and to register to participate can be found here.

Applications open for the Springboard Fund

The Springboard Fund offers a grant to help fund the further development of early-stage ideas into impactful translational projects. If you’re seeking to prototype and test an idea, develop proof-of-principle of the translational application of your research, or even early proof-of-concept, this funding opportunity might be the first fundamental step in enabling access to larger grants, including the £20K iTPA Accelerator Fund, in your journey to commercialisation and impact. Past uses of the funding include accessing data or samples, prototyping, creating new collaborations with industry, clinicians or stakeholders, research expenses, testing your idea in the field, amongst many others. Application deadline is 20th January 2023.

NES Postgraduate Programme – Leading Digital Transformation in Health and Care for Scotland

Funded by the Scottish Government and led by NHS Education for Scotland as part of the Digital Skills and Leadership Programme, this postgraduate programme will enhance the ability of current and future leaders to drive, deliver and embed digital transformation across health and care services in Scotland. Delivered by the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Government funding has been provided for year 1 (PGCert) and year 2 (PGDip) for up to 60 participants.  For those who intend to complete year 3 (MSc) funding must be provided by the candidate’s own organisation or the candidate (self-fund).

Digital Health & Social Care Course

UHI has 6 funded places available using SFC Upskilling Funding for the Digital Health and Social Care (SCQF level 11) module starting 23rd January 2023. This module will provide you with the opportunities to explore how digitisation is used to improve health and social care delivery systems, through examples such as video links for remote consultations, monitoring systems, apps, and software to support rehabilitation. You will learn about data security, legislation, patient confidentiality, and the impact of digital connectivity, especially in relation to improving access for those in remote and rural areas.

Product Design Scotland Toolkit

Turning an idea into a commercial product is a challenge that faces many entrepreneurs, innovators and small to medium sized businesses. The design process must be carefully considered to ensure that development costs, timelines, and expectations are managed effectively. To help those navigating the design process, Product Design Scotland have worked together with their members to create our Product Design Toolkit which will provide practical, best practice guidance on each of the key topics within the development pipeline.

Project Manager Opportunity for CAELUS North of Scotland

The CAELUS Consortium consists of 16 partners including academia, industry and the NHS. NHS Grampian is leading the “Once-for-Scotland” approach on behalf of the NHS Territorial Health Boards alongside the Scottish Ambulance Service to understand the benefits that Unmanned Aerial Systems technology can bring to the delivery of routine and emergency activity, respectively, in the 21st healthcare delivery model. This opportunity will cover all six healthcare boards in the North of Scotland Innovation test Bed and will provide operational delivery for the CAELUS 2 project which is Innovate UK funded and led by AGS Airports until June 2024.

Latest funding opportunities

Check out the latest health and care funding opportunities from across the sector on the funding section of our website.