There is no darkness but ignorance- Are we more ignorant than ever?
Surely, dear reader, you’ll tell me that is just not the case; And that, today, there is a huge amount of information that can easily accessed throughout the world thanks to the Internet and globalization.
Yes, you’d be correct.
Well, partially at least…
If we look back at our history as humans, stopping in the Middle Ages, there is no doubt that there was much ignorance.
1000 to the power of a million
However, I ask you to imagine something else. If you imagine now that in the Middle Ages humans had access to 1000 units of knowledge, being ignorant would be to not know these 1000 units. Today, there are millions upon millions of units of knowledge. By our personal limits, it’s impossible to know and understand a million units of knowledge. Therefore, our ignorance now is greater in units of knowledge than in the Middle Ages. As each moment passes, our personal knowledge is more limited in relation to the knowledge that develops minute by minute throughout the world and across the internet.
The only way to overcome our personal limits is to share knowledge. I cannot know everything, but being part of a community helps me out of my ignorance…
We live in a world of permanent change
The speed in which innovations are developed and implemented, and in which new services are launched in the field of digital health is amazing. In turn, innovations support the application in health of technological areas such as Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Analytics, Blockchain, Robotics, Quantum physics, Internet of Things, Precision Medicine, Cybersecurity and data protection, to name just a few.
Add to this the impact on the transformation of health services, the complexity of the application of digital solutions in clinics, the creation of new start-ups, the new products and services across the industry, academic researchers etc. There is an enormous amount of information, how can we possibly transform it in to knowledge?
Digital Health Observatory (DHO)
Well, we believe this transformation is only possible with a community of knowledge and practice.
ECHAlliance, which has 600 partner organizations, a network of more than 16,500 experts and professionals, and a presence in 40 countries, are transforming this space through the establishment of the Digital Health Observatory.
DHO has the following objectives:
- Providing relevant, timely and high-quality articles, reports, best practices and research in digital health transformation.
- Increasing awareness and commitment of governments and the private sector to invest in, promote, and advance in transforming healthcare delivery.
- Generating knowledge that will significantly contribute to the improvement of health using digital technologies and processes.
- Disseminating research findings and best practices in events, workshops and through social networks.
Digital Health Society: Four task forces
The Digital Health Society has agreed four Task Forces to make things happen in health and social systems and organizations, public and private. These are:
- Convergence roadmap on Interoperability standards and Digital Telehealth care protocol
- Citizen-controlled Data governance and Data Donors
- Legal Framework for the Free flow and the secondary use of health data
- Digital Transformation and change management in Health and Social care organizations.
In a joint effort, the Digital Health Observatory will publish articles, documents, reports and best practice case studies from the work of the four Task Forces, and relevant information of the main progress.
Health Ecosystems
ECHAlliance connects 20 Connected Health Ecosystems across Europe, USA, Canada and China. They are multi-stakeholder groups with patients at the core building permanent communities with quarterly gathering, building communities of trust across geographic regions.
Ecosystems bring together all key stakeholders across specific geographic regions, they facilitate engagement between all relevant sectors necessary for making change happen in connected health.
The Digital Health Observatory is inviting the ecosystems to share relevant information about their best practice and success stories, and to publish them through DHO, enhancing the transfer of knowledge.
Experts and Professionals
Having in mind the talent, the practical experiences and the know-how of the 16,500 experts/professionals who are part of the ECHAlliance, we invite you to share your reflections, your experiences and best practices in the form of articles, reports or communications.
Also, to those who are not yet members we invite you to join ECHAlliance and participate at this community of knowledge and practice that is the Digital Health Observatory.