Foreword - Dr Mike Short CBE, Chief Scientific Adviser Department for International Trade
Digital Health is rightly seen as the answer to many of the challenges facing global healthcare. The role of digital technology in realising the dream of accessible, affordable and sustainable care has grown across the entire range of health economies in not only serving current needs but in building the basis for the healthcare of the future: personalised, digital by default and truly patient centric.
The UK has long prided itself as being a hotbed of innovation and the British Government’s ongoing investment in growing our capabilities in areas such as AI and more broadly around Data Driven Healthcare, has further fuelled the creation of cutting edge, evidence-based solutions. Solutions which have the key to unlock global challenges, effectively.
These chosen UK innovations is our answer to a related but slightly different question – how do we find the best of British talent in Digital Health that’s ready to go global and link it with that ever expanding worldwide opportunity? Healthcare UK, part of the Department for International Trade, has invested significant effort to identify, engage with and showcase some of the UK’s leading talent, which will grow over time.
This is part two of the programme, a refresh and expansion, with now 160 UK companies. The UK companies were selected after a rigorous process based on a range of criteria including how committed they were to export and international expansion, the global uniqueness of their innovation, a track-record of working collaboratively with Healthcare UK, their responsiveness, and how well they represent the UK journey and direction in digital health, particularly with the NHS. The list will be reviewed and maintained regularly and released formally twice a year.
However, the picture of talent and innovation in the UK is a fast evolving one with new pioneers emerging daily. We hope through our programme, we will rea