5 - 7 April 2011, Berlin, Germany.conhIT, connecting healthcare IT, will have a partner country for the first time this year. The Netherlands will be exhibiting on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, and will be represented in every section at the fair.
Visitors and exhibitors at conhIT will be able to meet industry colleagues and find out more about cross-border business opportunities at a combined stand organized by the German-Dutch Chamber of Commerce (DNHK). Companies wishing to meet participants from the Netherlands can register in advance with DNHK.
Commenting on the Netherlands' role as the partner country of conhIT, H.E. Marnix Krop, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who will also be speaking at the opening event on 5 April, said: "I am delighted that, as the partner country of conhIT 2011, the Netherlands will have an opportunity to intensify cooperation amid competition for the best ideas. In the Netherlands, implementing IT and technology, particularly where prevention, self-management and improving the organization of the healthcare sector are concerned, is considered a very important part of the solution. Networking the various service providers within the system is another aspect to our innovation strategy for the medical sector of the future. Nowadays this type of networking no longer stops at national borders."
conhIT is organized by the German Association of the Healthcare IT Industry (VHitG) e.V. Managing Director Andreas Kassner is looking forward to finding out more about the Netherlands' healthcare IT market. "The telematics applications which are already in use in the Netherlands, plus the presentation of systems used in clinics at the combined stand of the Netherlands will be of great interest to doctors as well as heads of IT and commercial departments."
In addition to the conhIT Industrial Fair, the Netherlands will also be represented at the Congress and Networking Events. According to Kassner, "there will be excellent opportunities for German and Dutch companies to meet and exchange views." On Wednesday, 6 April, a Congress session will be held entitled "Learning from our neighbours - IT in the Dutch healthcare system", which will present eHealth projects from the Netherlands. In the afternoon a matchmaking session with Dutch healthcare IT specialists will be taking place.
The healthcare sector opens up long-term business opportunities for German and Dutch companies in each other's markets
Few sectors currently have greater growth potential than healthcare. Over the years to come demand for medical treatment and care will continue to rise. This is mainly driven by demographic change. According to the latest survey of the German-Dutch Chamber of Commerce, by 2035 one in four people in the Netherlands and as many as one in three Germans will be above the age of 65. Healthcare spending will increase accordingly. Thus, innovative medical technologies and IT solutions will become more and more important. The use of new technologies, mobile patient documentation for example, improves the quality of patient care, makes it more efficient, and reduces costs.
"After France, the Netherlands is Germany's second largest trading partner," said Wouter Timmermans, President of the German-Dutch Business Club, recently founded in mid-December 2011. "Almost 50 Dutch subsidiaries exist in Berlin alone. They have a substantial impact on the economic performance of the capital and the Brandenburg region."
In recent years joint ventures involving the Netherlands and Germany's eastern federal States in particular have flourished. Many Dutch companies have invested in this region, while their counterparts are increasingly showing interest in the Netherlands. Dutch healthcare facilities appreciate the fact that German products offer good value for money.
Ursula Baumann, the project manager of conhIT: "I am delighted that conhIT has appealed to an even wider international audience this year, and that we have succeeded in securing the Netherlands as the first partner country of conhIT. There are many more international aspects to conhIT besides our partner country and, as in past years, simultaneous interpreting into English and German will be available at all the Congress sessions."
One example is the workshop entitled "an EU of Opportunities" on Thursday, 7 April, where representatives of the European Commission, the Federal Ministry of Health, and various EU projects will be reporting on eHealth activities at European level and on the programmes of the Commission. The workshop, held in English, will be followed by a panel discussion. Various European eHealth projects will also be exhibiting at the EU Pavilion (Hall 1.2, B-113).
Additional information on exhibitors from the Netherlands at conhIT 2011 is available at the Holland Lounge.
For further information, please visit:
http://www.conhit.com
conhIT - connecting healthcare IT
conhIT targets decision-makers in IT departments, management, in the medical profession, nursing, doctors, doctors' networks and medical care centres who need to find out about the latest developments in IT and healthcare, meet members of the industry and make use of opportunities for high-level advanced training. As an integrated event, over a period of three days conhIT combines an Industrial Fair, a Congress and Networking Events which are of particular interest to the industry. Launched in 2008 by the German Association of the Healthcare IT Industry (VHitG e.V.) and organized by Messe Berlin, this event recently recorded 200 exhibitors and 3,500 visitors and has now become Europe's leading event for the healthcare IT sector.