Developing the healthcare of the future
Experts in digital and microprecision industries are joining forces with companies located in Switzerland’s “Health Valley” to invent digital products aimed not only at improving our physical health but also preventing and treating illness.
Digital health (also known as e-health) lies at the crossroads of multiple industries. It is generally defined rather broadly as the use of information and communication technologies to improve health and health systems. In Switzerland, the concept includes actors from both the digital sector (entrepreneurs, educational and research institutions) and the medical one (patients, medical staff and nurses, manufacturers, healthcare institutions, insurance companies, university centers, etc.). Many Swiss companies, including giants La Poste and Swisscom and startups Ava and MindMaze, are now breaking into this fast-growing market.
Situated in Health Valley, the canton of Vaud has everything it needs to become a world-class site for digital health. Its public hospitals, including the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and private clinics like those in the Swiss Medical Network, are known for their cutting-edge medicine and have long attracted patients from around the globe. To continue improving their services, these establishments are working closely with local life science engineers and researchers from institutions of higher education, the University of Lausanne (UNIL), and the École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Partnerships have also been formed with major corporations and startups alike in the Lake Geneva region. Such cooperation has proven fruitful, attracting around CHF 500 million from business angels and venture capital organizations in 2016.