The eHealth Center joins CataloniaBIO & HealthTech, an organization bringing together companies in Catalonia's biomedicine and health sector

The eHealth Center, the UOC's digital health research centre, has recently joined CataloniaBIO & HealthTech, an organization that represents companies in Catalonia's biomedicine and health sector. The organization was created by a group of entrepreneurs in the sector in 2006, and today its members number almost 200 leading companies and knowledge agents involved in research, development and innovation. The organization's most recent general assembly saw the presentation of the 24 new members, including the eHealth Center.

CataloniaBIO & HealthTech works towards four goals: defending and promoting the interests of the sector's business fabric; increasing the competitiveness and size of companies in order to create new products and services that improve people's health; creating value within the sector by promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and the network; and positioning Catalonia as one of the world's leading health hubs.

The organization reflects the sector's broad-based nature and contributes to synergies between start-ups and companies that develop products (biopharmaceutical, medical technologies and digital health), service companies (scientific and non-scientific), investors, research centres and hospitals.

Shared spaces for a broad-based sector

Some of the organization's objectives overlap with those of the eHealth Center, which works to promote research and innovation in digital health in order to act as an agent for social change promoting the transformation of the health system. In order to achieve this, the eHealth Center believes that it is important for the parties involved in change to have common spaces where everyone can contribute their branch of knowledge and expertise, to combine experiences and move towards a health system that benefits patients and professionals.

The eHealth Center points out that being part of CataloniaBIO & HealthTech will enable the UOC centre to "build future alliances within Catalonia's health, research and innovation ecosystem." Membership will also be "a good opportunity to build projects with an interdisciplinary perspective".

^{UOC R&I} 

^{The UOC's research and innovation (R&I) is helping overcome pressing challenges faced by global societies in the 21st century, by studying interactions between technology and human & social sciences with a specific focus on the network society, e-learning and e-health.} 

^{Over 500 researchers and 52 research groups work among the University's seven faculties and two research centres: the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) and the eHealth Center (eHC).}

^{The University also cultivates online learning innovations at its eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC), as well as UOC community entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer via the Hubbik platform.}

^{The United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and open knowledge serve as strategic pillars for the UOC's teaching, research and innovation. More information: research.uoc.edu #UOC25years}