Interview with: Sarah Forbes, Digital Economy Specialist and Project Manager for UNITE project in Scotland

This article is part of the “Behind the Scenes” series, in which the UNITE project partners introduce themselves and explain how they will contribute to the transformation of European healthcare.

What motivated you to join the UNITE project, and how does it align with your personal or professional goals?

As Scotland’s economic development agency, innovation, internationalization and investment is at the heart of what we do. Globally, the pace of innovation is unrelenting. And whilst we have witnessed an improvement in Scotland’s innovation performance over recent years, the interaction of new technologies in the digital and life sciences domains offer the potential for revolutionary new industries to develop from established capabilities across Scotland. We identified Health as a strategic priority as part of our mission to scale innovation in Scotland and UNITE provides the opportunity to work across an interconnected innovation ecosystem to unlock this potential further. UNITE also enables us to deliver a targeted approach to demand led innovation and develop Scotland’s capability in new European markets.

Can you tell us about your team's expertise and how it contributes to UNITE's mission of transforming healthcare through digital innovation?

What are the most pressing healthcare challenges in your region, and how do you believe the UNITE project will address them?

Our priority and challenge is to deliver activity which leads to people living longer, healthier and fulfilling lives. Our focus is to drive innovation which can maximise impact on ill health prevention, and early intervention, backed by increased productivity in healthcare.

UNITE provides opportunities for interregional European partnership to develop, share insights and form new collaborations and approaches to address the healthcare challenges we face in Scotland and in other regions of Europe.

How do you ensure that ethical considerations and patient privacy are prioritized in the development of new healthcare technologies?

We are committed to the highest standards and embedding an ethical, open, and person-centred approach to the use of health and social care data. This maintains public trust and confidence. We bring these principles into our work on the project.

How do you plan to engage with other consortium partners to ensure the smooth implementation of innovative solutions across regions?

As an active member of the consortium, we will continue to build relationships with our partners through regular communication and support towards project outputs. We will share innovation best practice from our region and instigate match making opportunities into the Scottish health and digital ecosystem with our partners.

How do you plan to involve local stakeholders, such as healthcare providers or policymakers, in the success of UNITE?

In Scotland we have set up a Scottish stakeholder group comprising of key organisations across our Health, Care and Digital landscapes. We will engage with this group regularly to identify demand, support the development of the innovation calls, enable the creation of effective value chains and highlight opportunities for further collaboration with UNITE partners. The group includes health and care providers, policy makers, innovation organisations, testbeds, accelerators and other support organisations from within the health and digital ecosystems in Scotland.

We will also continue to promote UNITE through targeted engagement within our networks and across our communication channels. There will also be 25 stakeholders from Scotland actively participating in the projects Ecosystem Working Groups where they will be able to share knowledge and best practice, facilitate learning journeys and support the delivery of key project outputs.