CinfaNext presented at “4 Years From Now” in the framework of the “2023 Mobile World Congress”
On 27 February, we participated in the “Mobile World Congress” (MWC), the digital innovation summit, which brings together startups, investors and large corporations in Barcelona every year to showcase the latest trends, projects and technological innovations.
A few years ago, the MWC joined forces with “4 Years From Now”, a meeting dedicated to startups related to mobile technology and the digital ecosystem, which has since been integrated into the framework of this fair. Today, this joint initiative has become the fastest growing entrepreneurship and innovation event in recent years.
In this last edition, Cinfa participated by supporting the Digital Health vertical, with presence in different activities focused on the health sector.
This is how we spent our time at “4 Years From Now” (4YFN)
Cinfa collaborated in the panel organised by BHH, Digital Distuption in Pharma, moderated by Orlando Vergara, ambassador of Barcelona Health Hub. Our head of innovation at Cinfa, Julio Sánchez Mariñas, spoke alongside various relevant actors from the pharmaceutical sector and other major laboratories such as Novartis, Sequera Labs AstraZeneca, and Angelini Pharma, to discuss the digital health revolution and the importance of open innovation in the pharmaceutical industry.
All the speakers on the panel agreed on the importance of the industry generating a positive impact on patients, creating personalised experiences to empower and improve people’s health. To this end, the importance of data was emphasised, and how the analysis and collection of information can help to create new pharmaceutical products that improve people’s quality of life. At Cinfa, we also highlight the great potential offered by community pharmacies.
Finally, the important role of the agents of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the need for these large corporations to collaborate with startups was highlighted. Additionally, the key role of public institutions in supporting these initiatives to enable innovations to reach all hospitals and patients.
Another of the key moments of 4YFN was the Global Digital Health round table. What’s Happening, New and Trending?,in which Cinfa also took part, to put into context the latest trends, new habits and opportunities in the digital health environment from the perspective of the health system, education and the pharmaceutical industry.
The round table was moderated by Andy Bleaden, Communities Director of ECHAlliance, with the participation of our head of innovation, Julio Sánchez Mariñas, together with Martin Curley, professor at several universities in Ireland, and Jon Warner, US president of ORCHA Health. The meeting between speakers from different countries also served to exemplify developments in the sector at an international level, and all of them emphasised the need for support from a legislative perspective.
We also took the opportunity to present our open innovation platform through the CinfaNext panel: A Colaborative Way to innovate in the Health Sector, in which we highlighted the need to enrich our innovation model and collaborate with different stakeholders.
In addition, this meeting gave us the opportunity to get to know very interesting projects in the health sector such as Nixi for Children, which seeks to develop virtual reality experiences to help paediatric patients and their families establish positive emotional relationships with the hospital. This startup was also awarded a prize in the pitch competition organised by ECHAlliance.
Other startups we were able to meet with were: Robopedics, creator of the world’s first robotic orthopaedic solution for personal use as an alternative to exoskeletons; Fagor Healthcare, focused on making it easier for chronic patients to take their prescribed medication properly, with whom we have had a close relationship for years; or Dana, focused on improving mental health and integral wellbeing during maternity.
These are just some of the more than 785 startups that attended the fastest growing digital entrepreneurship event in recent years.
