Author: Chiara Davalli

The CHERRIES “RRI and Experiment Toolbox”, set up by K&I with the active contribution of all the CHERRIES partners during the first period of the project, is ready and is accessible for the regional teams involved in the pilots and for those interested to implement in their local context the CHERRIES approach and methodology.

It collects and adapts RRI-related knowledge, tools, and other resources to support stakeholders and territorial partners in the implementation of the three CHERRIES experiments. Based on the screening and selection of RRI promising practices in health, the Toolbox incorporates existing resources from European and national projects and activities focusing on RRI, RIS3, and healthcare interface.

The Toolbox includes the introduction and two parts.

The first part, titled “RRI in health. General resources for understanding and framing RRI in the healthcare sector”, provides the general framework in which the definition and the implementation of RRI-oriented demand-driven innovation initiatives in healthcare should be placed.

The second part, titled “RRI demand-driven innovation approach”, provides resources useful for implementing RRI-oriented demand-driven innovation initiatives in healthcare and for triggering related-process of structural change within R&I territorial healthcare ecosystems. This second part is organised in five sections, according to the phases of the CHERRIES methodology and presents, for each of them, a set of resources useful for its implementation.

Download CHERRIES RRI and Experiment Toolbox

The Toolbox will also be soon accessible as web tool on the CHERRIES website.

The set up of the Toolbox can be considered an open process. The present version of the Toolbox might be therefore further improved and enriched through the next stages of the CHERRIES project, including possible tools developed and tested during the implementation of the three territorial RRI/demand-driven pilots, and other relevant resources identified within and outside the Consortium.

Please let us know if you have any further resource you would like us to include in the toolbox: get in touch!

CHERRIES territories launched 3 calls for solutions that will be open for applications till April 15th 2021.

Territorial partners in Cyprus, Murcia and Örebro are looking for innovative solutions in the healthcare sector.

3 regions, 3 different challenges:

• CHERRIES Cyprus is calling European companies and organisations to solve the “Provision of medical services to the Cypriot citizens that live in rural and remote areas and do not have easy access to healthcare services and prescribed medicines” challenge
• CHERRIES Murcia is calling European companies to solve the “Early detection of progression in Multiple Sclerosis” challenge
• CHERRIES Örebro is calling European companies and organisations to solve the “Breaking and preventing involuntary loneliness among elderly” challenge

For each challenge, CHERRIES will award one solution. Selected European innovators will:

• Co-develop and validate the solution with the challenge promoter
• Receive 50000€ to develop the solution over 10 months
• Access mentoring support to ensure smooth development and implementation of the solution

CHERRIES invites you to the upcoming info-webinar aimed at presenting the three specific challenges, the application and selection process, and  providing some highlights on the RRI dimension that applicants need to embed in their proposals – especially in terms of inclusive and participatory approaches.

Join our webinar on March 4th at 11am (CET) and clear all doubts about the CHERRIES open calls for solutions.

REGISTER NOW

We ended 2020 evaluating the results of CHERRIES regional calls for needs. As a result of the 3 regional calls, CHERRIES pilot regions (Murcia, Cyprus and Orebro) selected a challenge each and developed dedicated calls for solutions.

The three calls will open on Monday, February 15th.

Each call will stay open for 2 months and will result in the selection of one solution per challenge that will be implemented over a 10 month period, with a financial support of 50000€ (lump sum).

According to CHERRIES methodology, each solution will be tailored to the specific context and co-developed with the relevant territorial stakeholders.

CHERRIES partners will provide mentoring support to the granted solutions and will help them embedding Responsible Innovation principles and practices into their projects.

Each call will have a dedicated page, accessible either through CHERRIES website homepage or the regional ecosystems’ pages.

Our consortium partner  Aretaeio Hospital in Cyprus introduced some interesting digital tools to improve its healthcare services. Read about the E-HCert and how blockchain technology presents a great opportunity to radically reshape the current paradigm and change the delivery of healthcare, test results, therapeutics, diagnostics as well as advance the process and security of information exchange between parties.

“The clinical laboratories of Cyprus produce large volumes of data, including extensive paper trails relating to lab test results for patients. The system currently relies on ‘Laboratory Information Systems’ (LIS) that helps specialists manage data resulting from a series of complex tests and activities.

The current process contains multiple deficiencies. Firstly, the patient has to wait days for the completion of all tests prior to receiving results. In addition, the hospital laboratory has to contact the patient, deliver physical test results whilst the patient has to then maintain a hard copy of the results in good condition to ensure access to subsequent healthcare services.

As healthcare systems undergo rapid integration with new digital tools, the need for compliance with data privacy policies such as GDPR becomes increasingly vital. Conversely, patients need a legally compliant, private and secure method to view and share their own health information.

Blockchain technology represents the best opportunity to radically reshape the current paradigm and change the delivery of healthcare, test results, therapeutics, diagnostics as well as advance the process and security of information exchange between parties.

W-HCert and VeChain as an Instrument for Patient, Hospital & Government

E-HCert represents a new category of healthcare record system that combines interoperability, immutability, traceability and compliance. For Aretaeio Hospital, after the patient takes a lab test, results will be automatically uploaded to the E-HCert application and the VeChainThor public blockchain. Built on VeChain ToolChain™, the E-HCert wallet can be securely accessed using private credentials given to the patient after a registration process in the Hospital. Once complete, the data is readily accessible to its owner, available for use to prove his or her health status as required.

The solution also provides a blockchain-based Web Portal that allows doctors to request the medical records of patients, creating a trusted and transparent communication mechanism between physician and patient.

The platform maintains GDPR compliance by ensuring personal data remains under full control of the owner, granting access to government authorities, employers or other parties at the sole discretion of the owner whilst massively reducing the risk of accidental third party exposure.

From January 2021, The E-HCert App will be used by Aretaeio Hospital for all laboratory tests, from COVID-19 to routine blood work, predictably serving over 100,000 people a year. Together with I-Dante and VeChain will be a leading force in the transformation of the European healthcare sector”.

“Following the integration of this platform that offers patients direct and secure access to their laboratory tests via mobile devices, it also incorporates the digital vaccination certificate for Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19”.

Sources:

1. https://www.aretaeio.com/en/aretaeio-hospital-joins-the-digitalization-and-blockchainization-era-by-offering-e-hcert-to-its-patients-visitors/
2. https://www.aretaeio.com/en/aretaeio-hospital-introduces-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-digital-vaccination-certificate-platform/

Aretaeio Hospital: Introduces Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 Digital Vaccination Certificate Platform

We were asked to briefly present the added value CHERRIES can offer to its stakeholders. Here is our answer:

• HAVE YOUR SAY – Three regional “Labs” enabling multi-actors dialogue for bottom-up definition of needs and co-creation of innovative solutions in the healthcare sector.
• REPLICATE THE PILOT IN YOUR REGION – A common methodology and a virtual toolbox outlining methods and practices to run regional pilots on demand-driven and user-led innovation approaches (from stakeholders mapping, to co-creation approaches, to monitoring framework) allowing other regions and other sectorial stakeholders to replicate the “labs”.
• GET SUPPORT & MAKE CONNECTIONS – Training, networking and mentoring programme for at least 3 more regions interested in replicating CHERRIES methodology either in the healthcare or other sectors (mirror regions).
• LEARN BY DOING – Regional workshops and online webinars to delve into responsible healthcare ecosystems in Europe.
• KEEP UPDATED – A quarterly newsletter to receive latest updates from CHERRIES community → www.cherries2020.eu/newsletter
• GET POLICY HINTS – Recommendations for policy makers on how to shape responsible innovation policies.

Discover the full offer of CHERRIES project: our brochure is available online for free download.

CHERRIES Flyer 2020_A5_download

Last December 1st, CHERRIES partners in Murcia organised a training session on RRI.

The session counted on the expertise of Rosina Malagrida, Head of the Living Lab for Health at IrsiCaixa. Download her Power Point Presentation here: PPT_RRI- Malagrida Cherries_December 2020

You can access the recording of the whole session here

Bringing together relevant actors to work towards common goals in a responsible manner is an important way to co-create a sustainable regional innovation ecosystem.

SeeRRI aims to develop a general framework with a set of core principles and a roadmap that territories could use for guidance in this co-creation process.

SeeRRI is a project in which 12 European organizations and 3 European territories (Nordland in Norway, B30 in Catalonia, Spain, and ecoplus from Lower Austria) work together to develop such a framework based on the principles of RRI. The goal of SeeRRI is to work with the policymakers and other regional actors to figure out how best to integrate RRI principles into the smart specialization policies of the regions.

Learn more here: www.seerri.eu

• Twiter: https://twitter.com/rri_see
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/seerri-project-884540182
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLUzbU7hZS4QbQzcG2zdIhA

The call for needs in Cyprus has been running for approximately five weeks, starting from November 2020. We asked Moyses Moyseos (Operations Manager at CyRIC) to share with us some insights from #CHERRIESCyprus.

“The regional partners CyRIC and Aretaeio Hospital have interacted and communicated with multiple stakeholders from the 4P model about the scope and purpose of the CHERRIES project and especially the adoption of its ongoing process and methodology for the future. It was encouraging to discuss and receive feedback from patient associations, individuals, professionals in the sector as well as to receive Needs that comply with our call and are aligned from all different perspectives to the common benefit of the community and the local ecosystem.

Healthcare in the Republic of Cyprus has been improving substantially with the recent long-anticipated implementation of a comprehensive National Health-care System, which is set to make the sector more streamlined and cost effective.

Major challenges face today’s health care system for which health professionals including public and private hospitals and clinics, must be prepared. There is an immense need for better coordination, communication, and more efficient processes within the hospital but also with the patient experience as well as other key stakeholders of the health care ecosystem. In addition, we have both a culture and organization of care that separate our care into distinct systems such as hospitals, home care, skilled nursing facilities, with little formal communication, relationships, or collaboration between and among those settings.

Our call for needs was looking for specific eHealth needs that clearly defined the problems and hurdles that individuals or organizations are currently facing in providing high quality medical and healthcare services. Transforming systems in a way that would give patients and health professionals more of an active role, as users of new technology in the care continuum, is a priority”.

inDemand has released the success stories resulting from the co-creation and business support provided by inDemand in Murcia, Paris and Oulu regions. Learn more about the challenges identified, the co-created solutions and the participants that made it possible.

inDemand stories are a two-pages visual case study with qualitative and quantitative information that describes the original challenge encountered by the Healthcare organisation as well as the Solution co-created and the co-creation and business support participants that made it possible.

Testimonials from the co-creation participants and end-users are also included to strengthen the credibility of the inDemand model and solutions. inDemand stories are accessible via the inDemand website and a dissemination campaign is planed: https://www.indemandhealth.eu/stories/

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About inDemand

Digital Health solutions with a high chance of success because they have been proposed and developed side by side with healthcare organizations

inDemand is a new model where Healthcare organizations and companies co-create Digital Health solutions, with the economic support of public regional funds.

Follow inDemand on Twitter

We asked Gorka Sanchez (Sistema Murciano de Salud) to share with us some initial comments about the call for needs that the regional team of CHERRIES Murcia (CEEI Murcia, Murcia Region, SMS, Ticbiomed) run in November 2020.

“The call for needs in the region of Murcia focused on three target groups:

• Healthcare professionals of SMS, both sanitary and not-sanitary (IT, administrative…).
• Associations of patients.
• Research groups of universities (there are three universities in the region of Murcia, two public and one private).

Eligible consortia could consist of one, two or three representatives of the above listed target groups. However, it was compulsory for each consortium to include at least one healthcare professional from the SMS as his/her presence is essential to involve them in the implementation of the pilot, if the need is selected.

CHERRIES Murcia capitalised the lessons learned with inDemand project and followed its best practices creating a culture of intrapreneurship among SMS professionals, supporting them in explaining the objective of the call and the preparation of a sounding proposal, and the opportunities offered by CHERRIES project throughout the different phases of the regional experimentation.

The number of proposals received, 8 proposals, was lower than expected due to the COVID-19 situation, which has been the main priority of the SMS professionals.We paid special attention to the addition of new stakeholders (patient associations and Universities) as they were not familiar with the inDemand processes, while the healthcare professionals were.

The wider involvement of different societal actors will enrich the regional pilot which will reflect RRI principles and processes”.