In August 2017, the Dutch Top Sector Life Sciences & Health (LSH), launched its Knowledge and Innovation Agenda 2018-2021. This strategic document describes LSH’s health and care ambitions for the next four years. The agenda mentions that ‘many Dutch LSH highlights are famous worldwide, including the upcoming Dutch ICT-breakthrough innovation of the Personal Health Train that incorporates the FAIR principles adopted by the European Commission and G20.’ In addition, it announces Health-RI, FAIRdICT, and GO FAIR as Public Private Partnerships that will be facilitated by LSH.
The LSH strategy focuses on the global societal challenge ‘Health and Care’. The demand for care is rapidly increasing due to ageing of the population, lifestyle, and increase in the number of chronically ill people. In order to properly address this global challenge and exploit economic opportunities, cooperation between citizens, researchers, government, and entrepreneurs is essential. Top sectors and key technologies, such as ICT, nano- and biotechnology, provide a solid platform for interdisciplinary collaboration.
Strong successful collaboration calls for synergy. The new Knowledge and Innovation Agenda provides this by combining forces of people and organisations. The routes of the Dutch National Research Agenda, strategic policies of the Dutch government, LSH roadmaps, as well as the key enabling technologies and the link with other Top sectors form the foundation of the LSH coalition.
With the mission ‘vital functioning citizens in a healthy economy’ the LSH coalition will continue to achieve progress in the next years. National strategic public private partnerships in the field of cardiovascular diseases, dementia, regenerative medicine, and cancer research develop at a very rapid pace and will further extend in the upcoming years. In addition, the coalition will continue to search for new public private partnerships that boost innovation in health and care.
Professor Jan Raaijmakers, ambassador of Top Sector LSH: “With sustainable public private partnerships, we invest in breakthrough solutions to tackle global challenges, such as the established partnerships RegMedXB and Oncode Institute. Top science and top entrepreneurs aim for societal and economic impact, both interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral. With our new Knowledge and Innovation Agenda, we continue in that direction.”