‘ ERDF Upscaling Health Tech labs for Accelerating Innovations’ is a project aimed at expanding the Digital Health Knowledge Boulevard in Bruges. In doing so, the project aims to contribute to a solution to two current societal challenges, specifically digitalization and aging.

In the living labs/demo environments, companies and healthcare organizations are invited to test prototypes of new products and services with and for the target population, and market them in scientifically supported testing and validation environments. Thanks to the use of mobile infrastructure, the deployment of the equipment and services of the knowledge institutions can also happen on site at the companies and healthcare organizations, allowing measurements to be made in real life settings.

By having companies and healthcare organizations actively participate in joint transition processes with support from the expertise of the knowledge institutions, the transition can be made to renewed care in which digital support plays a key role:

• The further expansion of the existing labs including mobile infrastructure for the digital health cluster for companies and healthcare organizations.
• Expand Digital Health community with focus on informing about the latest trends, innovation potential and possible applications, as well as testimonials and sharing success stories.

The project is based on a coordinated collaboration between KU Leuven Campus Bruges, VIVES Noord and Howest as knowledge institutions, In4Care as a Flanders-wide community, and POM West Flanders as a government organization, in function of community development and networking and connection with the companies and care organizations. The expansion of the labs at the knowledge institutes acts as a powerful stimulus for the growth and activation of a regional ecosystem with a Flemish-wide appeal around digital healthcare. The project plays an important role in promoting innovation and creating a fertile environment for companies and healthcare organizations to collaborate on breakthrough solutions that contribute to the transformation of healthcare and also provide economic valorization for companies.