Ministerial Delegations Activities

As part of Radical Health Festival Helsinki 2024, the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is proposing a full-day programme of site visits and high-level discussions for international ministerial delegations and selected Festival participants.
Finland stands out for its robust foundations for digital health excellence: exemplary data governance, thriving digital society, nurturing ecosystems for innovators, and a well-anchored culture of trust. Here’s what sets Finland apart:

Rich Health Data: Decades of meticulous data collection have culminated in comprehensive national registers and digital health records;

Digital Health and Care: The Finnish healthcare system leverages this wealth of data within a fully digital framework: from tax filings to medical prescriptions, everything is seamlessly accessible online and embraced by the Finnish population;

Innovation Hub: Finland proudly ranks as an Innovation Leader, surpassing the EU average by 134.3% (European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, EU Commission);

Foundation of Trust: Finland operates on a solid foundation of trust, where citizens have confidence in the honesty, fairness, and adherence to laws and regulations by authorities, politicians, and civil servants. This contributes to Finland consistently being among the happiest nations globally!

Finland offers an ideal environment to leverage the use of health data for the development, piloting and large-scale deployment of innovative digital services. During your visit, you’ll find inspiration, learning opportunities, and potential partners for research, development, and innovation. With a strong emphasis on education, engineering prowess, entrepreneurial spirit (with the highest number of startups per capita in the world!), a focus on deep tech and AI, and world-class healthcare and scientific infrastructure, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is inviting you to discover Finland as a destination of choice for digital health.

Welcome aboard! This full-day programme is designed to immerse you in Finland’s dynamic digital health ecosystem.

09:00-11:30  Site visit at HUS Meilahti Bridge Hospital, Helsinki 

Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) stands at the forefront of medical research in Europe, providing secondary healthcare for 1.8 million people and overseeing the treatment of rare diseases and organ transplants across Finland.

Renowned for its world-class research, HUS collaborates closely with the University of Helsinki. Meilahti serves as the primary campus, housing facilities such as the new Bridge Hospital, the Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well as hosting startup and collaborative development initiatives. Our journey will commence with an introduction to the Finnish Social and Healthcare System. Subsequently, you will delve into HUS’s groundbreaking advancements in data and artificial intelligence, participation in the co-development program CleverHealth Network, international projects and collaborations.

Detailed site visit agenda:

9.00  Introduction to the Finnish Social and Health Care System and Utilisation of AI
Päivi Sillanaukee and Jukka Lähesmaa, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland

9.20  Healthcare AI development, Japanese and Estonian Reflections

Kazuhiro Sakurada, Professor, Department of Extended Intelligence for Medicine (Keio); Project Leader in Advanced Data Science Project (RIKEN), Japan

Jaanika Merilo, Head of eHealth Strategy, Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonia

9.40-10:00

HUS Acamedic – Secure, Scalable and Virtual Research Environment
Emmi Turunen, Software Specialist, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Finland

Prospective Use and Patient Recall in Registry Studies / Rare Diseases
Mikko Seppänen, Director of the Rare Disease Center, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Finland

10.00  The CleverHealth Network – Ecosystem for Public-Private Collaboration

Katariina Rouvinen, Development Manager and CleverHealth Network Ecosystem Coordinator, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Finland

Focus on Home Dialysis: Virpi Rauta, Nephrologist and Principal Investigator, Cleaver Health Network eCare for Me Homedialysis Project, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Finland

Focus on AI: Miikka Korja, Chief Innovation Officer, Consultant Neurosurgeon and Head of Section at the Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Finland

10.35  International Cooperation in EU projects: Pekka Kahri, Technology Officer, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Finland

10.50  Bridge Hospital Visit: Pekka Lahdenne, Project Director, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), Finland

12:00-12:30: Transfer to Messukeskus Convention Center

12:30-13:30: International Health Leaders Networking Lunch (By Invitation Only)

13.30 -17.20 Ministerial Delegations Event (OPEN TO ALL – Location: Messukeskus Convention Center)

13:30-14:45  National Level Health Data and Registries

• Big Picture: The Finnish Health Data Ecosystem
  Sirpa Soini, Director and Chief Data Officer, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finland
• The Unique National Health Data Ecosystem Kanta
  Arto Vuori, Director of Information Services, Kela Social Insurance Institution, Finland
• Panel discussion and international reflections
  How data registers and ecosystems benefit people in everyday life, viewpoint of patients and healthcare professionals, and European reflections.

14:45-16:00   Secondary Use of Data

• Drawing from Experience – How to Make the Most out of EHDS?
  Johanna Seppänen, Director, Findata, Finland
  Findata has accumulated five years of invaluable hands-on experience in applying EHDS-like legislation nationally. In this keynote, she will highlight essential considerations for the secondary use of health data across Europe and provide practical guidance to leverage this upcoming legislation to its fullest potential.
• Fingenious Ecosystem – Delivering More Together
  Speaker TBC
  Aiming to boost international research collaboration, the Fingenious Ecosystem offers a single window to Finnish service providers and data for biomedical research. In this keynote, we’ll guide you through the unique collaborative network, encompassing public, academic, and private stakeholders in administration, data and sample sourcing, analytics, and consulting. If you’re in search of partners, your search ends here.

Keynote: Tomohiro Kuroda, Professor, Kyoto University, Japan

Panel discussion: Synergizing the Secondary Use of Health Data – Sketching a Collaboration Blueprint 
Following insights from Findata, Fingenious Ecosystem, and reflections from international perspectives, this panel discussion aims to weave these narratives into a strategy for cross-border collaboration in health data utilisation. Join us as experts from public, private, and academic sectors from around the world dissect the implications of these experiences.

16:05-17:20  Innovative Age Tech

Welcome – Saara Hassinen, CEO, Healthtech Finland, Finland

Comparing Needs from Finland and Japan
Mika Fiskari, Senior Advisor, Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, Finland
Kentaro Watanabe, Team leader, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan

Solution showcase and panel discussion with:

Heidi Antila, Senior researcher, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland
Toini Hara, Principal Lecturer, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Finland
Kentaro Watanabe, Team leader, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan

Showcased solutions:

Mikko Hyle, Marketing Director, Evondos, Finland
Juha Sarsama, CEO, Everon, Finland
Henrik Resman, CEO, Vivago, Finland

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Space is limited and Ministerial Delegations Activities are by invitation only.

Please use this form to express your interest in joining the activities happening from 13:30 to 17:00 at the Messukeskus Convention Centre. Requesting an invitation for the morning activities including the site visit at the HUS Meilahti Bridge Hospital is not available.

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17:30-19:00      Welcoming Act: Why Deploying Prevention and Precision at Scale?

Co-designed with and hosted by Dr. Päivi Sillanaukee, Special Envoy, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland this Welcoming Act is open to ALL registered delegates.

Please refer to the main programme matrix for more information on this session.

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Please contact pascal@editohealth.org for any additional information about Ministerial Delegations Activities at the #RadicalHealth Festival.