A Scottish Government minister will join a webinar at the end of the month outlining the vision to put the country on the global innovation map.
Innovation minister Richard Lochhead will take part in an online forum with digital healthcare experts as part of an ongoing series of events hosted by NHS partner, InnoScot Health.
Mr Lochhead will discuss the ambitions that underpin the Scottish Government’s National Innovation Strategy 2023 to 2033 in the ‘lunch and learn’ session on January 31.
He will be joined by Carrie Thomson, the Chief Scientist Office’s programme lead for innovation and collaboration, as well as Digital Lifelines Scotland portfolio lead with the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI).
Carrie, an advocate for health and care innovation, will be discussing the innovation landscape at a macro level including initiatives such as Demand Signalling and Scotland’s Innovation Hubs, before focusing on a few specific projects such as the Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation Challenge and the AI Algorithm Dermatology SBRI.
She is interested in the role that digital solutions can play in improving health outcomes, and in better meeting people’s needs across health and care.
The accessible, bitesize ‘lunch & learn’ sessions are hosted on Microsoft Teams, regularly providing a platform for inspiring guest speakers whilst allowing InnoScot Health staff to share their deep knowledge and insights on innovation.
The free to join January webinar is entitled Collectively realising the ambition to make Scotland one of the most innovative small nations in the world and will be led by the organisation’s head of innovation Robert Rea and innovation manager Leigh Mair.
Rea said: “This webinar will unite two fantastic guest speakers who are both passionately focused on realising better patient outcomes through collaborative innovation on a national scale.
“As innovation minister, Richard will talk about Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy including ambitious plans to accelerate the country’s performance to a world-class level by tapping into its modern expertise in health and life sciences, data and digital technologies, and more.
“Carrie leads the Chief Scientist Office Reducing Drug Deaths Innovation programme as well as Digital Lifelines Scotland. Both programmes are focused on leveraging digital solutions to reduce the risk of death and harm for people who use drugs.
“She spoke well on that topic at Scotland’s Health Research and Innovation Conference, drawing on her experience from over 10 years at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the Office for Digital Health, and for us she will also touch further on initiatives such as Demand Signalling and Scotland’s Innovation Hubs.
“We look forward to learning more at our webinar while identifying and discussing the synergies in Richard and Carrie’s presentations. We are delighted that they can both join us.”
The webinar takes place on Wednesday 31 January from 12 until 12.45pm. For details and to register visit here.
