Helsinki encourages innovative transformation of healthcare at Radical Health Festival
Radical Health Festival Helsinki brought the European health innovation ecosystem to Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre on 21–23 May. The event invited visitors to invent and realise ways to change the whole health sector's model of thinking for the better – even radically so.
“It’s Critical to be Radical!” is the leading idea around which the Radical Health Festival Helsinki is built. It encourages genuine and open European cooperation in the healthcare sector. The event aims to respond to the global challenges in the health sector. It also offers an European arena that brings together people, data and innovations in Helsinki Expo and Convention Centre. This year, the programme focused on the innovative development of the health sector and featured 120 top experts of the field. The event had a thousand visitors, including experts, care personnel, policymakers, innovative companies in the sector, service providers, investors, patients.
Radical Health Festival 2024 focused especially on prevention and precision at scale. How can we identify risks early, before they turn into crises? How can we personalise healthcare for each patient? The event strives to accelerate the development of healthcare innovations so that we can answer these questions effectively.
Helsinki as a major hub for health innovations
The City of Helsinki joined the Radical Health Festival for the second time. As the main partner of an international high-profile health innovation event, Helsinki can strengthen its position as a facilitator of health innovations and a notable RDI hub for the sector.
Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laaksonen opened the event on Tuesday. In the panel discussion on Wednesday, Juha Jolkkonen, head of the City of Helsinki Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division, talked about data and service integration in healthcare and social services with other international experts in the topics. On Wednesday, the Mayor greeted the participants at City Hall. In the evening, Deputy Mayor Daniel Sazonov gave his keynote speech and expressed his happiness in how far Helsinki has come in its goal of attracting innovators.
In Helsinki Metropolitan Area, health innovations are facilitated and international investments are attracted by the Health Capital Helsinki alliance built around strong science campuses in the area. In addition to the City of Helsinki, the alliance includes HUS Helsinki University Hospital, the City of Espoo, the University of Helsinki, Aalto University, and the Metropolia and Haaga-Helia universities of applied sciences.
Health Capital Helsinki participated actively in the organisation of the Radical Health Festival and had its own stand in the exhibition area. International event attendees visited the stand to discuss the testing and development environments in Helsinki.
Other operators that attracted interest from the visitors included Health Incubator Helsinki and the Health Proof Helsinki network and its future.
Cooperation brings new solutions to global health challenges
Testbed Helsinki offers authentic testing environments for innovations in fields such as health and wellness. Together with companies and RDI operators, we can develop solutions to global challenges. Radical Health Festival is an essential element in the development of the City of Helsinki’s social and health services.
– As the main partner of an international health innovation event, we take part in the radical development of healthcare. Helsinki is a pioneer in the development and use of digital health services and health technology. Radical Health Festival Helsinki strengthens Helsinki’s position as an excellent testing and development environment for health innovations, Sanna Hartman, Business Helsinki’s senior specialist in testing platform activities for health innovations, sums up the benefits.
