Health Innovation East, the innovation arm of the NHS in the East of England and Cogniss, a no-code ecosystem for digital health solutions, have announced a strategic partnership to launch the Health Innovation East Digital Hub.
A no-code ecosystem is an online collection of tools, ways of working and learning resources that help people with no technical expertise build apps, in a point-and-click way, without the need for coding.
Cogniss said its digital health ecosystem enables entrepreneurs and health and care practitioners to build sophisticated apps for patients or customers “without relying on costly agencies”.
It said: “In the hands of health and care experts the ecosystem creates frontline solutions and helps commercialise digital products across health and care. In doing so Cogniss drives the democratisation of digital health.”
It added that the partnership helps health and care experts overcome obstacles associated with the cost of developing digital solutions, the demands of regulatory compliance and securing the resources required to bring digital technologies to market.
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At the heart of the no-code ecosystem is an ‘innovation sandbox’ – a space where users can create, test and experiment with ideas prior to launch – that is open to all users to help refine their health solutions. The sandbox is also accompanied by an ‘innovators forum’ where users can connect with fellow solutionists, and an e-learning platform supporting professional development for no-code. The ecosystem also has feature that automates many of the requirements of regulatory compliance for frameworks such as DTAC (how the NHS assesses digital technologies).
Launching the Health Innovation East Digital Hub
Together the sandbox, forum, academy and compliance functions combine to create the Health Innovation East Digital Hub, helping healthcare entrepreneurs and SMEs to create and commercialise digital health solutions into the NHS.
“Our aim is to cultivate a community of digital health innovators, whether SMEs or clinical entrepreneurs, and provide them with comprehensive support to tackle the most pressing health challenges and to deliver solutions to the people and places where they are needed most,” said Joanna Dempsey, principal advisor, Health Innovation East.
As the digital hub continues to develop access will be available via a digital health innovation programme. The programme will run two cohorts in 2024, each supporting up to 20 participants to produce a minimum viable product. The first cohort launches in September 2024 and is open nationally. Applications can be made by visiting the programme’s microsite.
