ERFURT – At the end of April, Berlin will host Europe's leading event for digital healthcare – and Thuringia will be showcasing its strengths there. The DMEA trade fair, taking place from April 25 to 27, will bring together decision-makers from all areas of healthcare. Nine companies, research institutions, and agencies from the Free State of Thuringia will form the Thuringian joint stand. "When we first appeared at DMEA last year, we had five exhibitors – it's encouraging that more and more players from Thuringia are taking advantage of the trade fair," says Sabine Wosche, Managing Director of LEG. "At DMEA, we want to highlight the capabilities of Thuringia's healthcare industry and use the opportunity to exchange ideas and network with companies and research institutes from other regions."
The Thuringian Development Corporation (LEG) is organizing the joint stand. There are many forward-looking topics that Thuringian exhibitors can highlight. For example, they will be presenting progress in developing the Digital Rescue Chain, a project within the framework of Thuringia's Digital Strategy. This project aims, among other things, to ensure that patient data flows comprehensively and quickly from the ambulance to the hospital designated for the victim's care during rescue operations, such as after accidents. Another project involving several Thuringian stakeholders is intelligent sensor-based telemedicine. Without patients having to visit the doctor's office or staff having to travel to their homes, data such as blood oxygen saturation or data for meaningful heart rhythm analysis can be transmitted using optical sensors or special apps. The patient collects the data at home, and the doctor in the office or hospital analyzes it. Life-threatening and time-critical conditions such as heart attacks and strokes can also be treated in real time using telemedicine approaches.
Projects like these thrive on the collaboration of diverse Thuringian companies and research institutes. Accordingly, many activities are coordinated by the LEG team "Thuringian Cluster Management" (ThCM), which also fulfills the tasks of the Thuringian Innovation Strategy (RIS) office. It was a ThCM workshop series entitled "Digital Health" that, beginning in 2016, brought together many Thuringian stakeholders and also initiated the plan to present a joint Thuringian booth at DMEA. DMEA was chosen because it is Europe's central meeting place for digital health – a hub for physicians, hospital and nursing management, and experts from politics, science, and research. Last year saw an increase in visitor numbers, with more than 11,000 trade visitors attending the Berlin exhibition grounds. DMEA is organized by the German Association for Health IT (bvitg e.V.). V. This year's main theme is "Young Talent and Career ", and Thuringia is taking this into account by having the "Thuringian Agency for Skilled Worker Recruitment" (ThAFF), located at LEG, represented at the Free State's joint stand.
In addition to ThAFF, the following eight exhibitors are present at the Thuringian joint stand:
- Takwa GmbH
- DECKEL MAHO Seebach GmbH
- MEYTEC JENA GmbH
- Wecare agency
- Textile Research Institute Thuringia-Vogtland e. V. – TITV Greiz
- Nanozoo GmbH
- Preventicus GmbH
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena, eHealth and Communication
