Healthcare | Tuesday 21 April, 2015 4:31 pm |

nuviun, a company focusing on driving emerging technologies into the mainstream, has launched the world’s first interactive digital health event, taking place in Dubai on 5th-7th May 2015.
Healthcare demand in the GCC countries and especially KSA is rising due to shifting demographics, higher income, steady population growth and lifestyle changes which in turn have led to a corresponding increase in conditions like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Both the public and private health sectors are meeting the challenge by increasing healthcare spending. A report by Alpen Capital Group says that Saudi Arabia is the first fastest growing healthcare market in the GCC in the next six years, and the overall growth rate for the whole region will hit 12 percent by 2018.
Digital health is now at the forefront of providing solutions for current healthcare challenges across many countries, including Saudi Arabia’s increasing battle against chronic diseases. It offers opportunities to address these challenges and work with key parties to reduce healthcare spend and ultimately change people’s behavior. Digital health covers everything from wearables to mobile apps for individuals, to electronic medical records and DNA sequencing for the industry.
The upcoming Digital Health Live 2015 event provides a platform for discussion to debate the core issues facing healthcare and to create an environment for education and connection. This is an opportunity to question traditional thinking and explore new ideas in the provision of healthcare. The Digital Health Live conference will attract the key players from decision-makers, investors, entrepreneurs, providers, patient representatives to industry experts. The conference will cover three areas of a new vision: for framing health, for supporting health and for consumer health.

Commenting on the upcoming event in Dubai, Dr. Tamer Shahin, CEO of nuviun said: “Saudi Arabia has a strong vision for a smart city and healthcare is one of its top priorities. This, coupled with little to no legacy infrastructure, and the regulatory landscape, it is evident why many experts are recognizing that this region has a huge opportunity to be the test ground for real and radical change.”

Key speakers for the conference include: Dr. Fadi Al Buhairan, Assistant Professor of Health Informatics at KSAU-HS & Health Industries Consulting Director at PwC; Daniel Whitehead, Director Medical Strategy at the Abu Dhabi National Health Insurance Company – Daman; John Nosta, President Nostalab, GoogleHealth Advisory Board Member; John Sculley, Former CEO Apple and Pepsi; Neil Jordan, Worldwide General Manager, Health Industry at Microsoft; and Daniel Kraft, Faculty Chair, Medicine at Singularity University.

In addition, the free Digital Health Live expo is for everyone interested in health, wellness and technology and will provide an experiential walk into the future with the world’s first interactive and fully immersive expo zones. The expo zones include: Digital Home, Digital Hospital, Digital Smart City and Digital Wellness and Gamification where visitors can experience first-hand the intersection of technology and healthcare and discover the future impact for the global healthcare community.