eHealth matcher valt in goede aarde (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Directoraat-generaal Communicatienetwerken, Inhoud en Technologie (CNECT) i, gepubliceerd op vrijdag 5 juli 2013.

An online survey on the EU-US Marketplace that took place in Dublin on 14 May 2013 as part of the eHealth Week, shows that 100% of the respondents agreed that their experience was positive and provided them with contacts and opportunities they would not have otherwise made.

The event consisted of one-on-one matchmaking sessions: 18 pre-arranged meetings in just 4.5 hours, taking place at little tables with only two chairs. Quite a new concept, but many people reacted enthusiastically. 95% of the respondents thought that the quality of the meetings was high, with the majority agreeing that the time allotted for each meeting was sufficient and they were able to meet everyone they wanted to meet.

Nearly all respondents agreed that they had both increased knowledge and gained valuable contacts by participating in the marketplace (97% each).

Real business opportunities

Over half of the respondents agreed that their organisation had gained real business opportunities at the marketplace, with almost all (92%) agreeing that they identified potential opportunities from the experience.

The 2nd EU-US Marketplace took place in Dublin as part of the eHealth Week on 14 May 2013. Informal feedback on the day was excellent and the organiser, ECHAlliance (European Connected Health Alliance, an international not-for-profit, membership organisation), wanted to gain more detailed feedback from participants on their experience of the matchmaking and its impact.

Therefore an online survey was launched on 23 May and a link was emailed to 140 matchmaking participants. The survey remained live for two weeks, closing on 7 June, and during this time one reminder email was issued. The response rate was 28%.

The majority of respondents were from Europe (69%), Canada (15%), USA (13%) and one response from Sweden. In terms of industry coverage, the majority of the respondents were from industry: 54% SMEs and 10% large industry. Then there were the healthcare providers (16%) and the government (10%).

Some reactions:

"The ability to meet so many people from across the globe was great."

"Overall a great experience! Because meetings were brief, they were direct and to-the-point. Level of interest and compatibility was quickly established, with little time wasted."

More info on EU-US eHealth matchmaking events, click here.