iDays

Join EIT Health i-Days to learn about health innovation, tackle real-life health challenges, and participate in EU finals in Budapest! 

Prizes

Programme

• 10–11 October, 2024 
• Thursday, 10 October – Training & Independent team work at RSU
• Friday, 11 October – Independent team work & Idea pitching by teams at the PMNET Forum

This year organised in cooperation with PMNET Forum (Precision medicine networking forum), running parallel programmes and merging both audiences for the final pitching session and awards ceremony on 11 October in the Conference Center at The National Library of Latvia in Riga.

It is an excellent opportunity to create something new, improve your skills, and gain knowledge by working together in a diverse team and with experienced mentors, and maybe even to lay a foundation for your company. Students from all programmes are welcome.

Get inspired by EU finals / Get inspired by 2022 / Get inspired by 2023!

Event language: English

FAQ

Challenges

Challenges by Children Clinical University Hospital

Communication improvement on “precision medicine”

In recent decades, the term "precision medicine" has gained increasing prominence thanks to advances in genomics, genetics and data science. It is still quite difficult to convey the meaning and discuss what precision medicine is and what it is not among different stakeholders - doctors and medical professionals, patients, parents of patients, students, as well as journalists.

• Hospital seeks effective communication tools, such as signs, cartoons, or videos, to explain precision medicine to diverse audiences, including children and older adults, and which can (possibly) be adapted to the Latvian language.

Tool to enable personalised care

In precision medicine each patient requires more individual attention - specific tests, visits, monitoring of side effects. Professionals need more detailed information about each individual patient, which includes genetic information and family history of cancer. However, the number of people needed to serve these patients is limited, so new tools and self-monitoring systems are needed for clients to fill in the data and send it to the health authority, which would also allow monitoring of rare side effects between specialist visits.

• Develop a prototype tool or information exchange system to support personalised care by enabling patients to submit data, track necessary tests, medication, monitor side effects and schedule timely visits, while providing healthcare professionals with easy access to detailed patient information and history during any type of consultation (on-site, virtual, or phone).

Solution to effectively provide children's palliative care

The children's palliative care team at Children's University Hospital cares for more than 270 patients from all over Latvia annually. Palliative patients are children with serious diagnoses who require long-term care at home, each of them has their own unique advanced care plan.
The number of patients increases yearly, so does the variety of treatments and needed support. To provide the necessary help in time for each patient, different information needs to be considered.

• Develop a solution to map and visualise complex rapidly changing patient information—such as residence, treatment plan, care dynamics, multidisciplinary caregiver team, available medical devices, and psychological support needs—helping the children's palliative care team effectively schedule appointments and keep track of every patient's needs. 

Teams interested in solving this challenge will be provided with a sample data-set to prototype a solution based on needs identified in the hospital.

Challenge by Roche

How can digital laboratory data ensure improved patient and public health outcomes? 

Comprehensive patient data enables precision medicine development. Medical laboratories provide some of the most insightful data about patients and society's health. These data are used for individual healthcare. The emergence of digital data in the field of laboratory medicine brings the possibility of using artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in clinical decision-making, disease monitoring and prediction of outcomes and patient safety. 

• Develop innovative solution to harness digital laboratory data and artificial intelligence (AI) for improving clinical decision-making, disease monitoring, outcome prediction, and patient safety.

Challenge by the Ministry of Economics

Digital health technology and AI integration into health systems

Explore innovative ways to integrate digital health technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) into health systems to improve patient outcomes, streamline processes, and enhance overall healthcare delivery, with a focus on automation. For example, developing decision support tools to enhance clinical accuracy, creating automated workflow solutions to reduce administrative burdens, designing telehealth platforms for efficient remote care.

Why participate?

• NEW SKILLS – Practice design thinking skills and learn how to pitch an innovative idea
• EXPERT SUPPORT – Test your skills and get the necessary tools to innovate with the help of experts
• REAL-LIFE CHALLENGES – Transform the health industry through challenges that currently exist across healthcare
• BROADENED HORIZONS – Share the experience with participants from different disciplines and backgrounds
• ALUMNI NETWORK – Join our community to meet like-minded innovators and access exclusive opportunities.

i-Days are a great CV addition and provide a perfect environment to nurture skills and abilities such as:

• adapting fast to new circumstances
• easily diving-in into new themes
• quickly identifying the essential
• interacting and talking to people (listening and hearing + asking questions)
• meeting deadlines

Who can participate?

• All undergraduate and postgraduate students

You do not need any prerequisite skills or prior experience in innovation, entrepreneurship or healthcare. There are no academic requirements and students from all disciplines and departments are welcome to join!

Young professionals who have just graduated are a good fit for i-Days but the primary audience remains university students.

How does it work?

At an i-Day event, you will hear inspirational stories that will boost your entrepreneurial and innovative spirit. With training sessions in design thinking and pitching, you will be equipped with the practical tools and skills you need to develop a healthcare solution, which you can pursue after the event. 

i-Days also provide a good environment to nurture soft skills such as teamwork and communication. You will work in multidisciplinary teams to put those innovation skills to work and to tackle real-life healthcare challenges with support from mentors.

Inspired by the needs of patients and citizens you will also gain insights into the healthcare challenges.

You will pitch your healthcare solution to a judging panel at the event for the chance to win an exciting prize.

The winning team is invited to the Winner's Event in Budapest (28-29 November, 2024). There not only the semifinal and finals of i-Days at EU level will take place, but also an opportunity to win prizes to continue your entrepreneurship journey such as through mentoring sessions, space for network, workshops and round tables, and an overview of other EIT Health educational programmes and initiatives.

i-Days goal statement

i-Days is an entry level programme to innovation and entrepreneurship in health, in which students will develop some initial ideas for innovation. It is not intended for teams who are in an advanced stage of product development.

We aim to inspire creativity and collaboration while encouraging a new generation of health innovators.  

The objective is to help students to enhance their innovation skills, including raising their awareness of the EntreComp framework.

What should I know 

• To ensure a smooth work process bring your own computer and any charging devices you need. 
• Those who wish to continue developing their idea overnight on site after 19:00 will be able to do so throughout the evening and night in the RSU premises (Vīlipa 12). You can bring a sleeping bag for a short nap.

Konsula 21 (RSU Pharmaceutical Education and Research Centre) is located close to the main building of Rīga Stradiņš University. Vīlipa 12 (RSU Innovation centre) is located 11 min walk from Konsula iela 21.

Tram 1 - Get off at Dzirciema iela
Trolleybus 9, or 25 - Get off at Botāniskais dārzs
Bus 37, or 41 - Get off at Botāniskais dārzs

Organisers