Digital ecosystem – using reliable data for a revolution in healthcare | BioRegio STERN

09/19/2019 | Press

Digital ecosystem – using reliable data for a revolution in healthcare

The 16 partners in the KIKS development project are among the winners of the innovation competition “Artificial intelligence as a driver for economically relevant ecosystems” staged by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). State Secretary Dr. Ulrich Nussbaum presented the certificates last Thursday in Berlin. Coordinated by BioRegio STERN Management GmbH, the project aims to develop a digital ecosystem that benefits patients, hospitals and medtech manufacturers in equal measure. Other project partners are welcome in order to jointly devise new strategies and applications for artificial intelligence in healthcare.

State Secretary Dr. Ulrich Nussbaum stands behind a desk and gives the opening speech

On the occasion of the opening of the new "Forum Digitale Technologien" in Berlin, Dr. Ulrich Nussbaum, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), awarded the winners of the Artificial Intelligence innovation competition.

/ Copyright: Reutter/BioRegio STERN

All medical treatment at hospitals generates large volumes of patient data. This is usually in digital format, but is largely unstructured and cannot therefore be used for statistical analyses. Furthermore, data is spread out across various local IT systems in hospitals, even though medical practitioners urgently need it to improve patient care. Hospital operators and insurance companies also require the data to help them pick the products and treatments with optimum cost-benefit ratios. In addition, before deciding on a treatment, patients want to see reliable information on its effectiveness. The new European Medical Devices Regulation, which comes to the end of its transitional period in 2020, means that manufacturers of medical products also depend on reliable data.

In addition to State Secretary Dr. Ulrich Nussbaum are Frank Trautwein (with certificate in his hands) and Claudia Salwiczek-Majonek.

Frank Trautwein (left), CEO of RAYLYTIC GmbH and consortium leader of the KIKS project, together with Claudia Salwiczek-Majonek of RAYLYTIC GmbH (right) and State Secretary Dr. Ulrich Nussbaum (middle).

/ Copyright: Reutter/BioRegio STERN

KIKS (Künstliche Intelligenz für Klinische Studien – German for “Artificial Intelligence for Clinical Studies”) sets out to formulate the requirements of medical product manufacturers and hospitals for using clinical data and implement these into an innovative software package. The UNITY science platform from Leipzig-based IT company RAYLYTIC forms the basis of a digital ecosystem that links together existing applications and speeds up the development of new digital solutions. The total project volume is over EUR 15 million.

Anja Reutter, project manager at BioRegio STERN Management GmbH, which is responsible for the network management and the administrative project coordination, is delighted that KIKS won through against over 130 concept ideas in the contest: “What’s unique is that, as well as doctors and patients, manufacturers of medical products are also included. The ecosystem is set to grow on a continuous and sustained basis, which is why further partners are being sought. KIKS has the potential to revolutionise healthcare.”

Partners in the project: