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EF: Could you elaborate on the role of EIT Health in Poland? What environment are you creating to attract the brightest minds in Europe?
JB: EIT Health is a vast and vibrant community of world-leading health innovators backed by the European Union. Our goal is to create local ecosystems, connect partners, and make a positive impact across Europe. We collaborate across borders, linking minds from academia, business, research, Healthcare, startups, and students. We fund projects and programs across education, innovation, and business creation, enabling the healthcare innovation needs to address challenges like aging, pandemics, and healthcare system sustainability.
I work specifically for EIT Health InnoStars, one of the eight geographical areas of EIT Health. It covers half of Europe, including Poland, Hungary, Italy, and Portugal, and additional regions included in the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme, such as the Baltic States, Croatia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Greece, and Romania. This is a group of countries qualified by the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) as moderate and emerging innovators. The Polish partners represent mainly prominent medical academia and research institutions: Medical University of Lodz, Medical University of Gdansk, Warsaw University, Silesian University of Technology, Łukasiewicz Research Network - PORT Polish Center for Technology Development and Lodz University of Technology.
At InnoStars, we promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and education in Healthcare, healthy lifestyles, and active ageing to bridge the gap between innovation leaders and emerging regions.
Moreover, we've expanded globally, partnering with Canada, Japan, and Israel. We aim to learn from diverse ecosystems and bring the best practices to Europe. By connecting internally and externally, we strive to have a more significant impact on healthcare innovation.
EF: How are you helping innovators to stay, innovate, and make products within Europe? What are you currently looking for?
JB: Our key focus in EIT Health is supporting Healthcare at different stages, beginning with education. We tackle the challenge of a shortage of healthcare workers by providing education and upskilling opportunities. We aim to scout for talent, whether healthcare providers, startups, or researchers with innovative ideas. We offer financial support and connect them with mentors, coaches, and experts. Through different programs, we guide companies to navigate different European markets and regulations, making it easier to launch their products. We aim to offer a smooth market entry, making it more convenient for companies to thrive in Europe. We understand the complexities of rules in various European countries, and we help startups gain a soft landing by linking them to specific people and markets. With our extensive network of over 120 partners, EIT Health provides access to knowledge, finances, and markets, making it a supportive platform for companies.
EF: How does your network of different startups, multinationals, and local companies work, especially with the other initiatives you carry out?
JB: In EIT Health, we collaborate globally, engaging with people in various countries, not just with startups but also with innovative solutions. We work closely with universities, resource centers, and industries to scout for potential products and services. Our local cooperation includes partnerships with national agencies, incubators, and accelerators. Through competitions, startups can apply for funding, mentoring, and expert access. We support entities throughout their journey, from the idea stage to hospital product validation and scaling. We offer a range of programs, from open to closed competitions, addressing different startup needs. Our quick and efficient consortium creation process leverages our connections in every country. We facilitate collaborations overnight, thanks to our well-established network and understanding of our partners' capabilities.
EF: Do you have any success stories from Poland that you can share with us? What initiatives are you working on that are a priority for this year?
JB: We prioritize engaging our partners in strategic EU-level discussions on AI, data, and the health data space. We want them actively involved, not just in calls and funds but also in shaping the future of European initiatives. We encourage partners, especially academia, to join discussions on skills, deep tech, and other vital topics.
Notably, we organized roundtable discussions focused on utilizing medical data within the scope of our contributions to the European Health Data Space initiative. The insights from these discussions will be disseminated in a comprehensive report of key findings and recommendations, ready for release at the EIT Health Summit in April 2024 in Rotterdam.
Additionally, we support our Partners in creating concrete programs, like 'From Scientists to Innovators for Industry' coordinated by the Medical University of Lodz, which focuses on transitioning young researchers from academia to industry. This program won second place in the Emerging Europe competition, showcasing its success of already over 30% of Alumni transitioning from academia to industry.
Our efforts extend to promoting these programs on a European level, helping local initiatives scale up. We're also working with national agencies and governments to boost visibility for countries like Poland, positioning them as leading hubs in innovation. We're committed to defining future skills, aiding partners in upskilling their workforce, and showcasing their potential on the European stage. We excel in supporting our partners in securing external sources of financing and integrating them into pivotal programs within the EIT Health portfolio.
EF: What strengths do you see in the Polish stakeholders that make other countries want to collaborate with them?
JB: At EIT Health, we value collaboration and openness, especially among scientists. We're actively involved in programs like Horizon Europe to attract more funds and promote innovation. We recognize the importance of entrepreneurship and embracing collaboration, traits we could learn from the US. Our skilled workforce is strong in IT and open to testing new solutions like AI.
In Poland, we've made significant strides, particularly in fintech, and are often ahead in technology compared to other European countries. Our society is open to embracing new technologies that contribute to our advancement. There's still much to do to raise awareness and implement new technologies across industries, including Healthcare. However, our willingness to embrace innovation and our talented workforce positions us as leaders in many areas.
At InnoStars, we forge partnerships with leading medical and technical universities, research centers, hospitals, and accelerators. Leveraging their extensive expertise in developing innovative solutions or educating different stakeholders, we collaborate to achieve shared goals and foster a vibrant Polish innovation ecosystem capable of seamless integration with top-tier ecosystems on both the European and international stages. Through our initiatives, we are dedicated to facilitating robust connections among diverse stakeholders. A prime example is the Nephrohero project, designed to pioneer solutions for the early detection of chronic kidney disease. This collaborative endeavor brought together a startup (the solution's originator), a pharmaceutical company, universities, medical centers, and EIT Health. These diverse entities synergized their efforts to address a specific medical challenge, collectively striving towards innovative solutions.
EF: In which countries are you implementing initiatives, and in which emerging markets and countries outside the EU are you working?
JB: In our regional innovation scheme covering Eastern, Central, and South Europe, we focus on engaging countries that are still considered moderate in innovation. We guide them on European ecosystems through events, activities, and dedicated programs, emphasizing mutual learning. We organize education and accelerator projects, similar to EIT Health, but with added efforts to connect these countries with more advanced ones. Our goal is to stimulate their ecosystems and showcase that, as moderate countries, they have valuable insights to offer to the broader European community.
We employ a range of strategies to facilitate these connections, including matchmaking. An example is our collaboration with Horizon4Poland matchmaking, spearheaded by Industry Contact Points. Through this partnership, we can draw in stakeholders from across Europe keen on forging collaborative projects and initiatives aimed at, for example, enhancing Healthcare across the continent.
EF: Do you have any initiative you would like to highlight that you are doing in Poland?
JB: We've got a project called From Scientists to Innovators for Industry, teaching researchers how to transition from academia to industry. For startups, we have business creation programs helping them verify the need for their healthcare innovations and attract investments. Uvera, a Polish startup, won the EIT Health Catapult competition and gained visibility at Times Square. We create personalized journeys for startups, guiding them through various programs within EIT Health.
One success story is an EIT Health-supported startup that learned about investor pitches and later won Poland's Mother and Child Startup Challenge. We partner with this challenge, allowing startups to implement their products directly in consortium hospitals. These are just a few examples of our many activities, collaborating with partners on different levels to foster success stories.
EF: What role do big multinationals play in promoting innovation, and what message would you like to give them?
JB: Collaboration and skills are the keys for us at EIT Health. When startups approach us, we emphasize defining all stakeholders from the start, involving corporates early on. This collaboration helps startups showcase their ideas to corporates, gaining support and insights. Having corporates in our network also helps us understand their future talent needs. We encourage industry involvement in education programs, which creates a win-win situation. Corporates get access to future talents aligned with their needs, while academia tailors educational programs accordingly.
For startups, it's crucial to focus on solving real problems rather than just the product itself. Collaboration is at the core of what we do, so we act as facilitators, bridging communication gaps among stakeholders who often speak different languages. Being a bridge in communication fosters successful collaboration. Essentially, the success of innovation lies in effective collaboration and a focus on solving meaningful problems.
EF: What will you be most proud of when you celebrate two years in this position later this year?
JB: I take immense pride in supporting my teams, startups, and researchers to reach their next milestones. I aspire for EIT Health to be widely recognized as a key player in Poland, fostering collaboration and building an innovative ecosystem. I envision startups and individuals returning to EIT, thereby identifying the genuine value of our programs and initiatives. I have a notable case from a German program, where an alumni expressed that being part of the educational program made him want to stay connected. This echoes my desire for EIT to create a genuine ecosystem where people don't just come for funding but see us as a hub for networking and collaboration.
