EIT Health Innovation Days 2020 goes hybrid

The 2020 edition of the flagship festival of Innovation Days in Europe will mix online and offline events. The string of 35 iDays in 22 EU countries starts this month with a mission to upskill young innovators, mainly students, in the field of healthcare and innovation. Every second event will take place in CEE and Southern Europe, where the pace of innovation development is still moderate. You can register here.

As autumn nears, EIT Health annual i-Days initiative is ready to launch, this time in a hybrid format. Innovation Days (“i-Days”) are 1–2-day events designed to engage and inspire students in the field of healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E). A string of 35 events across 22 European countries will be organized by leading universities, incubators and companies from the EIT Health network. Over 50% of the events will take place in CEE ad Southern regions both in an online and offline format. Approximately 2000 youth will be guided by the EIT Health network experts to develop ideas that can support healthy living and active ageing in Europe.

“This year proved that a blended way of creating innovations can be very productive. i-Days is an annual fest of innovations in healthcare where we invite all young talents to discover and play with innovations and learn how to create breakthrough solutions. We’re very much looking forward to this year’s ideas. The last edition of i-Days was won by a Latvian team – Smart Umbrella, which conquered other European teams. From our perspective, it’s a very important signal. In CEE and Southern EU regions, which are still considered as progressing in terms of innovations, we are discovering more and more talents. Those young people often prove that despite their young age they can create brilliant solutions that have the potential to be implemented on the market and help European patients.” says Balazs Furjes, InnoStars Director.

“i-Days are the fastest and coolest way to get introduced to the innovation field: workshops, meeting with experts, discussion among innovators make this 2-days event unique and really valuable,” said Chiara Maiorino, Education Manager for EIT Health InnoStars. “Quite a few InnoStars partners and Hubs are actively participating in this programme and therefore innovators from South Europe regions are more than welcome to attend the programme. However, my suggestion is that if you have an innovative idea and you would like to challenge it, acquiring just that basic knowledge on how to start to innovate, have a look at 2020 calendar of i-Days and reserve your seat!”

i-Days in essence:

• Each event is 1–2 days long;
• Format: work in multidisciplinary teams to tackle challenges central to EIT Health’s core mission – a chance to win prizes and an invitation to the i-Day Winners Event, training & coaching sessions, networking with peers, inspirational speakers, judging panels, start-up representatives and mentors, and engagement sessions with patients, users and citizens to test ideas;
• Areas of focus: healthcare innovation, design thinking, pitch coaching with an emphasis on citizen and start-up engagement;
• Goal: to learn practical tools and get a comprehensive introduction to innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of healthcare, and to gain soft skills, practical training and networking opportunities.

How to participate:

Taking part in i-Day is as easy as it can get. There are no requirements – you just need to bring your own enthusiasm, and, obviously, a facemask to stay safe. However, please bear in mind that this year, a range of events or their parts will be held online. Register here.

Who’s invited:

Everyone! EIT Health Innovation Days are one- or two-day events available to any student with an interest in healthcare innovation. We’re looking for students from a range of academic backgrounds to try and create the most diverse and talented teams. At an i-Days event, you will hear inspirational speakers describe their journey in innovation and entrepreneurship and get a chance to interact with healthcare professionals.

The competition and awards:

i-Days are mainly educational and training events. EIT Health aims to inspire you and stimulate healthcare innovation in general. However, if you wish to take part in a business competition, test your ideas and engage in a quality business simulation, there is a chance to do so:

• A real challenge sourced from a prestigious organization will be presented and you will receive design thinking training and pitch coaching from an expert;
• You will interact with expert citizens or patients to develop your idea and then pitch to a respected panel of judges;
• Three teams will win prizes and the first-place team will also win an invitation to the EIT Health i‑Days Winners Event, where the teammates can continue developing their idea with expert support and guidance!

If you are wondering what kinds of projects gain recognition in i-Days competition, please feel free to check the story on the last year’s laureates here. In short, it is a story on a group of students from Lithuania, working to place a smart device in the bloodstream to act as a filter in order to warn about an increasing risk of stroke.

Do you need more inspiration and food for thought? Please make sure to at least skim the summary of i‑Days 2019 edition, to be found here, and dive into even more details in this article.

i-Days dates:

To find a i-Day event near you, please look for info provided by your local EIT Health partner university or innovation. Below you will find the locations of the events, dates along with the list of partner institutions:

• Austria: 28/10/2020 – 04/11/2020, WILD GmbH, Völkermarkt;
• Belgium, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven;
• Croatia: 02/11/2020, University of Zagreb;
• Czechia: 30/10/2020, DEX Innovation Centre, Prague;
• Denmark, University of Copenhagen;
• Estonia: 24/10/2020, University of Tartu and Tartu Biotechnology Park;
• France: 02/11/2020 – 06/11/2020, University of Grenoble Alpes;
• France: 08/10/2020, 09/10/2020, 24/10/2020, 12/11/2020, Sorbonne Université, Paris;
• France, City of Nice
• Germany: 28/10/2020 – 30/10/2020, RWTH University Aachen;
• Germany: 13/11/2020, BioM, Munich;
• Greece: 04-06/11/2020, Hellas National Documentation Centre (EKT), Athens;
• Hungary: 03/11/2020, Institute of Transdisciplinary Discoveries, Pecs;
• Hungary: 05/11/2020, Semmelweis University, Budapest;
• Ireland: 05/11/2020, Trinity College Dublin;
• Italy: 04-06/11/2020, Consorzio Arca, Palermo;
• Italy: 13/11/2020, SDN. S.p.A, Naples;
• Lithuania:06/11/2020, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas, Lithuania;
• Latvia: 23/10/2020 – 24/10/2020, Rīga Stradiņš University;
• Poland: 23/10/2020 – 24/10/2020, Medical University of Gdansk;
• Poland: 26.10.2020 – 28/10/2020, Medical University of Lodz;
• Portugal: 06-08/11/2020, University of Lisbon;
• Portugal: 25/11/2020, University of Evora;
• Portugal: 13-14/11/2020, University of Porto;
• Portugal: 05-20/11/2020, University of Coimbra;
• Romania: 30/10/2020, Asociatia INIT with the FreshBlood HealthTech Community, Cluj;
• Spain: 31/10/2020 – 07/11/2020, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid/UPM, University of Barcelona/IESE, Polytechnic University of Valencia;
• Slovakia: T-Systems Slovakia: 19/11/2020, Košice;
• Slovenia: 25/09/2020 – 26/09/2020, Ljubljana University Incubator;
• Sweden, Uppsala University;
• Sweden: 24/11/2020, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm;
• The United Kingdom, Imperial College London;
• The United Kingdom: 04/11/2020 – 07/11/2020, Newcastle University;