Thank you!

Dear ladies and gentlemen, dear participants,

that was the SMITH Congress 2022! With more than 30 national and international speakers and almost 150 participants, the event under the motto “New Solutions in Digital Health” has come to an end. The last time the SMITH Congress could be hosted as a face-to-face event was three years ago. We were therefore very pleased that so many of you came to the dbb forum in Berlin and discussed with us.

In her welcoming address on the first day, Prof. Dr. Veronika von Messling, Ministerial Director and Head of the Life Sciences Department at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, gave a positive interim assessment of the work of the Medical Informatics Initiative to date. At the same time, she announced continued funding for the consortia and the Data Integration Centers in the consolidation and extension phase starting in January 2023. The head of the SMITH Consortium, Prof. Dr. Markus Löffler, underlined that. Essential processes, structures, and conditions for discharging patient data and biomaterials in a structured manner have been created. The results of the use cases implemented in SMITH, the established Data Integration Centers as well as the newly established professorships and junior research groups demonstrated these successes in the sessions on the first day.

While on the first day of the event we also addressed the topic of the “European Health Data Space” with a wonderful lecture by Prof. Ronald Cornet (Amsterdam UMC) and a panel discussion, we turned on the second day of the event our attention towards regional care. Using the example of the Digital Hubs, we discussed the challenges of different models of transferring digital innovations with renowned experts.

The next event is already just around the corner: The symposium of the Medical Informatics Initiative will take place from October 5 to 6, 2022. The event is organized by the MII Coordination Office and the four consortia DIFuture, HiGHmed, MIRACUM and SMITH. Under the motto “Balance and Perspectives” you are once again cordially invited to the dbb forum berlin.

Until then, we wish you a good time and stay healthy!