Jean-Philippe Arié has been managing Luxinnovation’s HealthTech Cluster for five years. He talks about the role, ambitions and specificities of what he considers an industry facilitator and an operational arm of Luxembourg’s diversification strategy.
Jean-Philippe Arié, what is the mission of the HealthTech Cluster?
The Luxembourg HealthTech Cluster was launched as a result of the economic diversification strategy initiated by the Luxembourg government in the ‘60s and after the global crisis of 2008 in order to facilitate the development of this specific sector. Its mission is firstly to monitor the sector and its evolution, in order to understand the current trends and anticipate future changes. The aim is to help national companies take these developments into account, to set up new tools that might support their adaptation to these trends and changes, and finally to support the growth of the whole sector. One of my missions is also to strengthen and multiply the connections within this ecosystem and advise on possible funding schemes.
All of these come down to tasks such as the organisation of events that bring together the players of the sector, help them identify common problems and challenges and initiate joint solutions. The networking approach is particularly important in order to strengthen the ecosystem, create potential synergies and let new innovative projects emerge. In brief, the HealthTech Cluster’s main role is to launch major initiatives and actions to contribute towards making companies’ lives easier and facilitate the transformation of the sector.
What are the specific characteristics of the HealthTech field, compared to other sectors?
The reliability and security of technologies and devices used for diagnostics and treatments are also extremely important, as these aspects can literally be a matter of life or death. One specific topic that is particularly sensitive is the use and protection of data, as the health sector deals with both patients’ personal and medical data. Due to the nature of its activities, the sector needs to deal with rather complex regulatory issues. Understanding all the European directives and regulations that healthtech companies need to comply with can appear extremely complicated, not least for start-ups, and this can be extremely cash and time consuming.
What’s next in 2023?
In early 2022, the Ministry of the Economy announced the forthcoming creation of the “Health And Life science Innovation (HE:AL) Campus”. This unique infrastructure will primarily target companies active in the fields of medical devices, in vitro diagnostics, and digital health tools and services. Following this step, we expect 2023 to be a pivotal year for our activities. Over the past decade, the healthtech sector has been a young, maturing field. In 2023 we will take a step forward and be able to present serious opportunities to our companies.
This article was first published in the Silicon Luxembourg magazine. Get your copy.
