SDG3
Experts from 33 countries gathered at NCKU to shape a sustainable smart health and medical cooperation ecosystem
The 2024 International Conference on Future Healthcare and Economic Development (2024 FHED) was grandly held at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) from October 28 to November 1. Organized by the NCKU Center for Forward-looking Medical Device Technology, this conference has become a major international event over the past decade, inviting over 1,200 leaders in medical technology innovation and scholars from 50+ countries since its inception in 2015.
This year, the conference took advantage of international collaborations through the Taiwan-Thailand Overseas Science and Technology Innovation Center, funded by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The event connected leading global medical research centers, universities, and relevant institutions. It also integrated resources from the NSTC’s International Joint Research and Training Programs and the International Cooperation Development Foundation. The theme for the conference was “Digital Health Tech from Hospital to Home”, with key objectives including:
Establishing an international digital health innovation ecosystem and cooperation platform.
Helping Taiwan build a smart healthcare technology international network.
Understanding current trends in medical innovation technology.
Exploring future care needs in home-based medical technologies.
The conference saw participation from over 200 global academic leaders, doctors, researchers, startup entrepreneurs, and industry elites from 33 countries, including Argentina, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, the U.S., Fiji, the Marshall Islands, South Africa, Tuvalu, Vietnam, Bahrain, Jordan, Mongolia, Oman, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Tunisia. These participants engaged in academic exchanges and discussed opportunities for cooperation to strengthen Taiwan’s medical device industry and establish a closer collaboration platform with the world.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Wang-Long Li, Director of the Science Education and International Cooperation Division at NSTC, introduced Taiwan’s healthcare policies in alignment with global medical technology trends. He emphasized the importance of international collaboration to accelerate the application of smart healthcare technologies, focusing on global health and aging care as key priorities to fulfill social responsibilities and foster innovation in the precision healthcare sector.
Dr. Wei-Zhe Zhuang Vice President of National Cheng Kung University, expressed hopes that the conference would enable participants to better understand future medical trends, explore how advanced technologies can be used to build home-based health networks, and promote high-quality healthcare services with lower medical costs.
Professor Pei-Rong Lu, Deputy Executive Secretary of the NSTC Technology Office, also introduced Taiwan’s Aging Technology Industry Action Plan. She highlighted the plan's goal to leverage Taiwan’s technological strengths to create a healthy, livable, and active lifestyle for the aging population while driving the growth of the aging technology industry, showcasing Taiwan’s "human-centered" approach to technological development.
Dr. Fang-Qing Su, Director of the NCKU Center for Forward-looking Medical Device Technology, discussed how talent matching, industry-academia-medical collaborations, technology consulting, data sharing, and testing applications can strengthen international industry-academia R&D connections. These efforts are aimed at accelerating the verification of research results in international clinical settings, stimulating innovation in medical technologies, and developing holistic care solutions, all while fostering a sustainable smart health and medical cooperation ecosystem.
During the conference, over 30 international experts gave presentations on smart healthcare trends and applications across different countries. NCKU professors, including Professors Yang Hongwei, Li Shunyu, and Lin Zhiwei, also delivered keynote lectures on their outstanding research outcomes. In addition, Taiwanese medical device companies, such as Quanta Computer, Formosa Plastics, Chang Hsing, Boryung Medical, Yizhong Technology, Jubang Medical, and Hugui Industrial, shared insights into Taiwan's smart healthcare technologies, with the goal of inspiring collaboration for the next generation of healthcare solutions.
In a special session, Professor Arthur Erdman, Founding Director of the University of Minnesota Medical Device Center, held a workshop on medical device innovation. Dr. Erdman is a leading figure in the field of medical device innovation and has provided consulting services to more than 50 international medical companies, including Medtronic, 3M, Dell, and Abbott. The workshop aimed to train international innovators in the field of medical devices, share innovation strategies and steps, and promote interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and cross-cultural knowledge exchange to develop advanced technologies and innovative solutions.
With the support of the NSTC Science Education and International Cooperation Division, the NCKU Center for Forward-looking Medical Device Technology integrates information infrastructure, cloud technologies, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence to focus on topics such as AI in medical devices, aging care, medical imaging, precision medicine, and data governance applications. The center aims to deepen the development of digital health and healthcare technologies, addressing the challenges of unequal healthcare resource distribution, as highlighted in the 2024 BTC conference.
This year, the conference took advantage of international collaborations through the Taiwan-Thailand Overseas Science and Technology Innovation Center, funded by the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). The event connected leading global medical research centers, universities, and relevant institutions. It also integrated resources from the NSTC’s International Joint Research and Training Programs and the International Cooperation Development Foundation. The theme for the conference was “Digital Health Tech from Hospital to Home”, with key objectives including:
Establishing an international digital health innovation ecosystem and cooperation platform.
Helping Taiwan build a smart healthcare technology international network.
Understanding current trends in medical innovation technology.
Exploring future care needs in home-based medical technologies.
The conference saw participation from over 200 global academic leaders, doctors, researchers, startup entrepreneurs, and industry elites from 33 countries, including Argentina, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand, the U.S., Fiji, the Marshall Islands, South Africa, Tuvalu, Vietnam, Bahrain, Jordan, Mongolia, Oman, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Tunisia. These participants engaged in academic exchanges and discussed opportunities for cooperation to strengthen Taiwan’s medical device industry and establish a closer collaboration platform with the world.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Wang-Long Li, Director of the Science Education and International Cooperation Division at NSTC, introduced Taiwan’s healthcare policies in alignment with global medical technology trends. He emphasized the importance of international collaboration to accelerate the application of smart healthcare technologies, focusing on global health and aging care as key priorities to fulfill social responsibilities and foster innovation in the precision healthcare sector.
Dr. Wei-Zhe Zhuang Vice President of National Cheng Kung University, expressed hopes that the conference would enable participants to better understand future medical trends, explore how advanced technologies can be used to build home-based health networks, and promote high-quality healthcare services with lower medical costs.
Professor Pei-Rong Lu, Deputy Executive Secretary of the NSTC Technology Office, also introduced Taiwan’s Aging Technology Industry Action Plan. She highlighted the plan's goal to leverage Taiwan’s technological strengths to create a healthy, livable, and active lifestyle for the aging population while driving the growth of the aging technology industry, showcasing Taiwan’s "human-centered" approach to technological development.
Dr. Fang-Qing Su, Director of the NCKU Center for Forward-looking Medical Device Technology, discussed how talent matching, industry-academia-medical collaborations, technology consulting, data sharing, and testing applications can strengthen international industry-academia R&D connections. These efforts are aimed at accelerating the verification of research results in international clinical settings, stimulating innovation in medical technologies, and developing holistic care solutions, all while fostering a sustainable smart health and medical cooperation ecosystem.
During the conference, over 30 international experts gave presentations on smart healthcare trends and applications across different countries. NCKU professors, including Professors Yang Hongwei, Li Shunyu, and Lin Zhiwei, also delivered keynote lectures on their outstanding research outcomes. In addition, Taiwanese medical device companies, such as Quanta Computer, Formosa Plastics, Chang Hsing, Boryung Medical, Yizhong Technology, Jubang Medical, and Hugui Industrial, shared insights into Taiwan's smart healthcare technologies, with the goal of inspiring collaboration for the next generation of healthcare solutions.
In a special session, Professor Arthur Erdman, Founding Director of the University of Minnesota Medical Device Center, held a workshop on medical device innovation. Dr. Erdman is a leading figure in the field of medical device innovation and has provided consulting services to more than 50 international medical companies, including Medtronic, 3M, Dell, and Abbott. The workshop aimed to train international innovators in the field of medical devices, share innovation strategies and steps, and promote interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and cross-cultural knowledge exchange to develop advanced technologies and innovative solutions.
With the support of the NSTC Science Education and International Cooperation Division, the NCKU Center for Forward-looking Medical Device Technology integrates information infrastructure, cloud technologies, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence to focus on topics such as AI in medical devices, aging care, medical imaging, precision medicine, and data governance applications. The center aims to deepen the development of digital health and healthcare technologies, addressing the challenges of unequal healthcare resource distribution, as highlighted in the 2024 BTC conference.
The 2024 International Conference on Future Healthcare and Economic Development was grandly held at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) from October 28 to November 1.
During the conference, Professor Pei-Rong Lu, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Technology Office at the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), introduced Taiwan's Aging Technology Industry Action Plan.
Director Fang-Qing Su of the NCKU Center for Forward-looking Medical Device Technology emphasized the development of emerging solutions for holistic care, aiming to shape a sustainable smart health and medical cooperation ecosystem.
