Pandemics: How Has Innovation Prepared the Nordic Countries?

Taking place 4:00PM Central European Time (CET)
The Nordic Prime Ministers adopted a new vision in August 2019: The region will become the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030. At the core of this strategy is health data as it plays a crucial role to achieve better health, improve general welfare as well as allow research and innovation – which is more important than ever in light of the current COVID-19 outbreak.

Characterized by universal healthcare for all from cradle to grave with sophisticated digital health solutions both at individual and population health level, the Nordics are facing the same demographic, economic and technological challenges just as all of us. Triggered by the pandemic, we already see that some of the recent uptake of technologies are here to stay for the better, like telehealth and remote monitoring – solutions that Nordic countries cherished even before the outbreak.

Learning Points:

Enabling environment: What makes Nordic countries to excel in innovation and collaboration?
Citizens in the focus: How to design pioneering policies that drive welfare of the society overall?
Response to COVID-19: What can we learn from crisis management approaches and solutions of the Nordic countries?

Moderator: Bogi Eliasen, HIMSS Future50 and Director of Health at Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, Denmark

Bogi Eliasen

HIMSS Future50 and Director of Health
Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, Denmark

Claus Pedersen

Director of Sentinel Unit
Danish eHealth Portal Sundhed, Denmark

Daniel Forslund

HIMSS Future50 and Chairman
Innovation and Development Committee, Stockholm, Sweden

Bio info: Daniel Forslund is Chairman of the Innovation and Development Committee in Region Stockholm. In 2014, he was elected...

Daniel Forslund is Chairman of the Innovation and Development Committee in Region Stockholm. In 2014, he was elected Commissioner for Innovation and eHealth, and became politically responsible for initiatives, policies and strategic investments related to digitalization, innovation, medical technologies, eHealth etc. Mr. Forslund holds a master’s degree in Political Science, and previously worked as Deputy Director at the Health Care Division of the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs from 2002 to 2011. He has also served as Chief Strategy Officer at VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation. He also serves as the official Swedish representative in the international standardization organizations CEN and ISO.

Ilkka Kunnamo

Adjunct Professor of General Practice
University of Helsinki, Finland

Bio info: Ilkka Kunnamo, MD, PhD, born 1955, developed the original idea of Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines, a...

Ilkka Kunnamo, MD, PhD, born 1955, developed the original idea of Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines, a comprehensive electronic guideline database published by Duodecim Medical Publications Ltd., Finland, and served as its editor-in-chief between 1988 and 2008. He now serves as the editor-in-chief of the international version, which has been translated into 10 languages. Since 1986 he has worked as general practitioner at Karstula in Central Finland. In 2009 he was appointed adjunct professor of general practice at the University of Helsinki. Presently he develops a comprehensive multilingual decision support service (Evidence-Based Medicine Electronic Decision Support, EBMEDS, www.ebmeds.org) utilizing coded data from electronic health records and providing patient-specific reminders, interactive algorithms, and population health tools. He has published research papers in informatics, guidelines, polypharmacy, rheumatology, gastroenterology, sinusitis, and diabetes care. He is a member of the GRADE working group, a member of the Executive Board of DynaMed Plus, EBSCO Health, an Editorial Advisor of BioMed Central (London), a founding member of the G-I-N Implementation Working Group and the Multimorbidity Working Group. In 2014 - 2018 he served as chair of the WONCA (World organization of family physicians) Working Party on eHealth.

Kathrine Myhre

CEO
Norway HealthTech, Norway

Bio info: Kathrine Myhre is the founder and CEO of Norway Health Tech, (previously known as Oslo Med-Tech), a not-for-profit...

Kathrine Myhre is the founder and CEO of Norway Health Tech, (previously known as Oslo Med-Tech), a not-for-profit member organization, focusing on innovation, business creation and international scaling of health companies.

The cluster has been formed by more than 200 participants from Medtech, pharmaceutical, eHealth and Digital health businesses, R&D institutions, hospitals and local health officials, global businesses and investors.

Kathrine, a thought leader with great futuristic visions for healthcare was born in Re, Vestfold, a small village in the south/east of Norway. Ms. Myhre holds a Bachelor of Political Science from Oslo University and a Master of Political Science from Reading University, the UK in 2001. She then worked on the development of innovation strategies and business development based on the University of Oslo (UiO)'s novel studies until 2008. Also From 2004 to 2008, Ms. Myhre served as Director of Innovation at the University of Oslo's Birkeland Innovation (now Inven2) and has held the role of Innovation Director at IT Fornebu since 2008. The idea of Norway Health Tech was created and introduced from this place in 2009.

Within a broad spectrum, Ms. Myhre has initiated and led numerous strategic and innovative processes and projects: creative process management, market analysis, business creation, IPR handling, marketing and sales, and facilitating funding for key projects and businesses. Norway Health Tech was awarded the NCE status (Norwegian Center of Expertise) by Innovation Norway's cluster program in 2015 and was re-certified in 2018 by the European cluster organization Gold Label status. The prestigious HIMSS Future 50 European Achievement Award was also given to Ms. Myhre in 2019.

Kathrine Myhre has over the years built a solid network in the health sector, nationally and globally, and is a renowned speaker in the field of health innovation and technology.

Bjorn Jonsson

CIO
Landspitali

Bio info: Bjorn Jonsson has served as Chief Information Officer at Landspitali - The National University Hospital of...

Bjorn Jonsson has served as Chief Information Officer at Landspitali - The National University Hospital of Iceland - since 2006. Landspitali is a 700-bed hospital with some 6000 employees (Iceland's largest employer) and has played a major role in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to becoming Landspitali's CIO, Bjorn worked at several software development companies, in a telecoms company and at an aluminum plant in Iceland. Bjorn holds a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Iceland and a MSc degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.