This report assembles a knowledge base for the Nordic Welfare Solutions project, and gives an overview of the core qualities and strongholds of the Nordic health tech ecosystem, concentrating exclusively on health tech solutions outside of the pharmaceutical industry.
The Nordic health care systems are globally renowned for providing efficient (in cost-benefit terms) and high-quality healthcare to its entire population. This is reflected in international media and political debates, which oftenpoint to the Nordics' successful healthcare models, and is confirmed by various international rankings.
Health tech solutions are increasingly part of larger health solution value chains or ecosystems, and companies delivering them are therefore likely to benefit from closer cooperation across industries and countries. Closer Nordic cooperation can help create stronger networks and a critical mass of companies, as well as improve market access and aid Nordic companies inexporting their solutions.
The findings suggest that the Nordic healthcare systems consistently deliver high quality healthcare to their citizens. The region possesses a healthcare infrastructure with leading knowledge and institutions, which is essential for developing abusiness stronghold. Moreover, it finds that the Nordic region excels at delivering equitable care to all citizens, relative to comparable regions. This feature, in combination with indicators revealing a high level of trust toward public institutions aswell as between citizens, is likely to be important for the development, piloting and homemarket commercialization of treatments within personalized medicine.
The report finds that the following areas express Nordic strongholds within the health tech industry in a good way, and are areas that can serve as useful points of depature for future joint Nordic export initiatives:
- Sustainable & innovative hospitals
- Smart digital solutions
- Ambient assisted living/care technology
- Personalized care
Background
At the beginning of 2017, Nordic Innovation launched the Nordic Welfare Solutions project. The project runs from 2017 to 2019, and aims to showcase and export Nordic health and welfare solutions to the rest of the world.
With this project, we hope to create better access to key markets for Nordic companies offering innovative, effective and sustainable solutions to specific international projects. We know that Nordic cooperation can add value for companies both for branding purposes and accessing new markets. By working together, we create economy of scale by poolingresources and ensuring critical mass in a given market, and we create economies of scope by providing a broader product.
Nordic Welfare Solutions is a flagship project under the Nordic prime ministers’ initiative Nordic Solutions to Global Challenges, which is coordinated by the Nordic Council of Ministers. The initiative promotes Nordic solutions and innovations addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
In addition to being a knowledge base for Nordic Innovation and our partners, we hope the report will encourage companies and organizations in the Nordic health tech ecosystem to work together in order to export Nordic welfare solutions.