Ireland poised to be a leader in global rise of digital health

With 700+ firms employing 90,000 medtech and biopharma workers, Ireland can be a digital health leader, says Ibec

Dr Sinead Keogh, head of sectors, and director of Medtech and Engineering, Ibec, says Ireland has the highly skilled, adaptable and mobile workforce needed for the country to be a leader in projected global growth in digital health.

Ireland has the potential to be a global hub for the digital health sector which is set to be worth in excess of $1.5 trillion by 2030.

Defined as the intersection between technology and healthcare, digital health encompasses digital transformation in the health sector, incorporating software, hardware and services, the use of digital tech to engage remotely with medical services. The term also covers everything from mobile health apps and wearable devices to telemedicine and electronic health records.

Ireland’s potential to grow within digital health is boosted by the presence here of 700+ businesses employing 90,000 directly in the world’s top medtech, biopharma, and digital health companies.

The scale of Ireland’s digital health opportunity was the subject of ‘Where Digital Health Thrives: Future Skills Needs’, the report issued as part of a conference co-hosted this week by Connected Health Skillnet and the Ibec groups Irish Medtech Association and Biopharmachem Ireland.

“Ireland has a very strong ecosystem already in place, with a convergence of tech, software, A.I. and advanced analytics needed for digital health to thrive,” said Dr Sinead Keogh, head of sectors, and director of Medtech and Engineering, Ibec. “Ireland is recognised internationally as a centre of excellence for life sciences due to the availability of its highly skilled, adaptable, and mobile workforce.

“However, skills are dynamic and can become dated meaning a persistent focus must be maintained on the development of our workforce. There is a need to ensure the skills base reflects not just the current business demands but the challenges of future growth in in the development and commercialisation of future digital health solutions.” 

 The Digital Health report found that nine out of ten business leaders say Ireland will play key role in the delivery of digital health solutions globally. Recent studies suggest use of A.I. in health service delivery could save up to 400,000 lives annually in Europe alone, equivalent to roughly 500,000 extra health workers across the continent.

Ireland’s prime position in digital health is evident in recent announcements by Dexcom, which makes continuous glucose monitoring systems for people with diabetes, to create 1,000 highly skilled jobs in Athenry, Co Galway, and Abbott Laboratories investing €440m in a new manufacturing plant in Kilkenny, with further jobs in Donegal.

Meanwhile, Pfizer is to add up to 500 new jobs, investing more than €1bn in its Grange Castle manufacturing facilities in Dublin, the largest single pharma sector investment in the history of the State. Eli Lilly is investing €927m in a new medicine manufacturing site in Limerick, adding up to 1,500 jobs to its existing 2,700-strong workforce.

Ibec’s cross-sectoral campaign ‘Where Digital Health Thrives’ has already identified 200 companies that are delivering digital health solutions here in Ireland, with market segments including, telehealth, data, analytics and cyber security, remote monitoring, connected medtech, mobile health and more.

“Our survey found that 87% of companies plan to invest in digital health, and that their Irish operation will play a key role in their planned digital health activities,” said Dr Keogh. “Digital health represents an amazing opportunity for Ireland.

“Ireland already has over 700 companies operating in this sector, among them the world’s leading medtech, biopharma, and digital health companies. These companies collectively produce €120bn in annual exports, representing two-thirds of Ireland’s total exports.”

 Dr Keogh said that Ireland’s medtech sector is ideally positioned to be a leader in this rapidly growing sector. Internationally, the life sciences sector is forecast to reach €730bn by 2025, with the digital health segment estimated to grow at over 17.4% between 2021 and 2027 to €426 billion.

The roadmap for this growth in Ireland, produced by Irish Medtech Association and Connected Health Skillnet, also outlines actions needed to address skill needs to support these new roles. Some colleges are offering useful Masters programmes, but the survey found that companies would like to see units on the skills supporting digital health inserted into a very wide range of the existing third-level study disciplines.

“Companies are saying that, rather than dedicated courses on Digital Health, it would be better to see digital health modules across a broad range of courses,” said Dr Keogh. “Ireland is ahead for availability of essential skills in software development, advanced data analytics and information management/cybersecurity.

“Moreover, our dedication to improving lives has seen the sector here motivated to place a particular emphasis on R&D. The Irish digital health sector is uniquely focused on R&D as a key priority for upskilling, with growing demand in areas such as product design, coding, and artificial intelligence.” 

See connectedhealthskillnet.ie for the full ‘Where Digital Health Thrives: Future Skills Needs’ report.