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Hacking the future of health at OuluHealth Hack

Hacking the future of health at OuluHealth Hack

A two-day hackathon is the climax of OuluHealth Hack, a competition for finding cutting-edge innovations to digitalise services in the social and health sector.

The OuluHealth Hack innovation contest is launched in April and it culminates in a 48-hour hackathon weekend in Oulu, Finland, from 15 to 17 June. OuluHealth Hack focuses on digital transformation in healthcare and new digital solutions that will speed up the upcoming health and social services reform.

The hackathon is organised by the OuluHealth ecosystem, the forerunner of future health, and powered by Ultrahack, one of the leading hackathon organisers in the world.

OuluHealth Hack is now organised for the first time. Its contestants have a choice of one of two set challenges and an open innovation challenge. The set challenges are provided by Oulu University Hospital, InterSystems and CGI. The challenges are already open at the hackathon website www.ouluhealth.fi/hack.

The total value of prizes in the competition is 13,500 euros.

The hackathon offers developers of next-generation digital solutions the opportunity to claim a place in the front row of global health innovators.

”This is an excellent opportunity to find solutions to meet genuine healthcare needs. I am happy that so many significant operators in the field are collaborating for the hackathon, thus creating a better future with the others. There is power in co-operation,” says Noora Jansson, Director of OuluHealth.

In their challenge, Oulu University Hospital and InterSystems are looking for innovations to improve the service platforms and customer experience in a hospital environment. The contestants have access to Oulu University Hospital’s functional floorplans and test patient data sets offered by OYS TestLab development and test environment via InterSystems HealthShare FHIR API.

”Oulu University Hospital aims to become the smartest hospital in the world. To reach that goal we are open for fresh visions, innovations and new angles on improving healthcare-related solutions and technologies for both customers and professionals. We are ready for quantum leaps but would appreciate tangible implementations of concepts to improve patient customer journey in our future hospital,” Timo Alalääkkölä of OYS TestLab outlines.

”It is an honour for us to explore new ideas in collaboration with OYS TestLab and the other contributors. We are eager to see what kind of innovations and new ecosystems become possible when the information hidden in the organisations, systems and document silos is released”, Miila Päivärinne of InterSystems envisions.

The CGI challenge is targeted to innovating customer journey solutions that make it easier for customers to reach proper care and maintain wellness in the future, whether the care be provided in a health institution or at home. CGI’s Omni360 API that utilises appointment and self-registration functions is available for solving the challenge, along with Etsimo Healthcare’s symptom assessment interface.

”Nowadays patients are seen mainly as customers, and CGI wants to be an active part in developing the customer experience of the future in healthcare,” CGI Service Manager Markus Vehmanen crystallises.

In the open hack challenge, any health tech idea or solution may apply. The challenge is for all health enthusiasts and teams that are interested in improving or revolutionising the Finnish health ecosystem. Participants are free to use any open data source around health topics.

The final hackathon for OuluHealth Hack takes place at the Tellus Arena, University of Oulu, on 15–17 June. Registration is open until the end of May. Participation is free of charge.

Winners are announced at the end of the hackathon on 17 June.

OuluHealth Hack is arranged in collaboration with partners Tieto and Sitra.

Further information:

Salla Hirvonen, Specialist, OuluHealth
+358 40 726 1842
salla.hirvonen@businessoulu.com

Timo Alalääkkölä, Head of Testing, OYS Test Lab
+358 40 561 4390
timo.alalaakkola@ppshp.fi

Miila Päivärinne, Senior Sales Executive, InterSystems
+358 46 600 0898
miila.paivarinne@intersystems.com

Markus Vehmanen, Service Manager, CGI / Welfare
+358 40 831 8684
markus.vehmanen@cgi.com

OuluHealth:

OuluHealth, one of the five Oulu Innovation Alliance ecosystems, brings together universities, researchers, healthcare professionals and health tech companies to accelerate innovation, boost the health tech business and create better solutions for the benefit of citizens. The ecosystem offers a unique test environment for developing products and services under authentic conditions with genuine users. OuluHealth is a member of European Connected Health Alliance and Business Finland network. BusinessOulu facilitates OuluHealth ecosystem collaboration.

Ultrahack:

Established in 2015, Ultrahack is an innovation platform and community for student teams, startups and enterprises to develop new digital business and solve topical challenges utilising the latest technologies. An Ultrahack innovation contest is an innovation programme spanning several months, comprising pre-hack meetings and mentoring before culminating in a hackathon final. The Ultrahack programme creates new teams, enterprises, jobs, technologies and even new fields of business. Ultrahack attracts hundreds of experts and dozens of growth companies to Finland every year.
Ultrahack has implemented hackathons with a number of cities and companies. Our international partners include NASA, ESA, CGI and IBM. In Finland, we have collaborated with companies such as Valio, Nokia, Reaktor Space Labs, Orion and OP.