{"id":34044,"date":"2019-04-04T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/researchdev\/2019\/04\/04\/health-ecosphere-collaboration-leads-to-innovative-digital-health-tech-solutions-to-urgent-healthcare-challenges-2\/"},"modified":"2025-01-30T09:08:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T14:08:17","slug":"health-ecosphere-collaboration-leads-to-innovative-digital-health-tech-solutions-to-urgent-healthcare-challenges-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/research\/2019\/04\/04\/health-ecosphere-collaboration-leads-to-innovative-digital-health-tech-solutions-to-urgent-healthcare-challenges-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Ecosphere collaboration leads to innovative digital health tech solutions to urgent healthcare challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Health Ecosphere<\/a>, an innovative project established to support the development of digital health technologies in Canada, has led to the commercialization of over 75 new products, forged close to 100 new partnerships, and created a new business model for moving health-tech prototypes to market.<\/p>\n

The lead partners of Health Ecosphere \u2014\u00a0York University<\/a>,\u00a0Southlake Regional Health Centre<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0University Health Network\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 celebrated the successes of the three-year project today, along with the\u00a0Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario<\/a>\u00a0(FedDev Ontario).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Health Ecosphere program reflects the strength of York\u2019s collaboration with\u00a0our partners in the healthcare field, finding\u00a0new ways to\u00a0apply\u00a0research to\u00a0improve the lives of Canadians\u00a0and to\u00a0prepare students for exciting careers in digital health,\u201d said York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton.<\/p>\n

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, Navdeep Bains, first announced $15 million in federal funding for the project in 2016. This investment was designed to bring universities, healthcare providers, the business community and government together to develop and commercialize technologies that could be used to improve the health of Canadians and position Canada as a global centre for innovation. Matching funding from private, academic and not-for-profit partners brought total investments to $35 million.<\/p>\n

\"York<\/p>\n

York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton speaks with Faculty of Health Professor and Dean Emeritus Harvey Skinner about the Health Coach Training Modules developed at York University through Health Ecosphere<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the past three years, the project has created and maintained more than 150\u00a0well-paid positions and commercialized or deployed 77 products and services in 62\u00a0new markets.<\/p>\n

The new products and services developed through Health Ecosphere are offering solutions to urgent healthcare issues. Technologies developed include healthcare apps, medical devices and big data platforms. They are designed to connect and coordinate healthcare, address fiscal impacts of the proliferation of chronic disease, help individuals change their behaviours, and leverage big data to develop and commercialize solutions.<\/p>\n

Examples of the products and services developed through Health Ecosphere include:<\/p>\n