Finland, Israel announce digital health collaboration plan

Finland and Israel agreed on collaboration in the field of digital health, as reported by the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) on Tuesday.

The key collaboration between the two countries was launched by the IIA, the Helsinki Business Hub and the Israel-Europe R&D Directorate (ISERD) at an event held at the Finnish Embassy in Israel, located in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.

The event was marked by a call for proposals for joint projects between Israeli and Finnish companies in the field.

In the cooperation statement it was noted that Israel and Finland are both leading innovation economies with technology and entrepreneurship at their core.

Finland is one of the strongest markets in healthcare technology, and one of the first countries to set up a national digital patient data repository covering both the public and private healthcare sectors.

Israel is home to over 350 R&D (research and development) centers of multinational corporations and Fortune 500 annual list companies, such as Google, IBM, Intel, Facebook, and Nokia.

Israel is also the world leader in R&D spending as a percentage of GDP and is home to hundreds of startups and companies driving innovations in the medical fields.

Ambassador-designate of Finland to Israel, Kirsikka Lehto-Asikainen, said "it is an important and exciting leap forward for the cooperation between Finland and Israel as leading innovative countries."

Aharon Aharon, CEO of the IIA, added "the collaboration will help Finnish start-ups access groundbreaking technologies that support the Finland's progressive health policies. This is also an extraordinary opportunity for Israeli companies to connect with Finnish leaders in the digital health ecosystem and gain exposure to cutting-edge technologies."