Medical technologies are a key sector of the future in Europe, offering solutions to reduce healthcare costs in the context of an ageing population. With the emergence of new and cross-sectoral technologies, it is one of the most innovative high-tech sectors, facing strong global competition and requiring more innovation all the time.

In this context, authorities at regional level should contribute to strengthening the research, development and innovation (RDI) ecosystem for the benefit of an innovative medical technology industry that generates economic growth, creates jobs and provides solutions for patients and healthcare systems in the regions.

To achieve these goals, the Medtech4 Europe project has developed an action plan to support medical technology companies. The first action of the action plan aims to promote cooperation between the companies concerned. This is briefly described below.

The aim of the action is to develop collaborations, in particular to thematise and make available online the professional services required by the players in the medical technology development and manufacturing market. It will contribute to improving the competitiveness of businesses, reducing their fragmentation and isolation and contributing to the development of the medical technology sector as a whole. The aim of the second phase of the project, to be implemented between 2020 and 2022, is to reach out to businesses, to familiarise them with existing cooperation, international and national good practices and professional actors, to help them identify the areas where they most need cooperation, and to coordinate and encourage them. In addition, an online service database will be created and a service delivery model will be developed.

Activities carried out under the measure:

– Developing a cooperation and service delivery model

 

Service *

The services sector (tertiary sector) is one of the three most important economic sectors in developed economies. Services is the collective name for the activities created to meet needs.

A service is an intangible result of work or entitlement that is of value to its recipient or beneficiary, even if he or she does not necessarily pay for it. The provider of the service usually expects consideration (money) in return for the service or, where the service is linked to a product (e.g. repair, maintenance), the consideration may already have been built into the price of the product.

During the development of the service delivery model, we examined whether:

  • how the freedom to provide services works,
  • what rules apply to a service provider who is established,
  • who is entitled to this freedom,
  • and the content of the freedom to provide services.

 

Cooperation **

Collaboration is a process in which two or more individuals or organisations work together to achieve common goals – for example, through creative intellectual effort, knowledge sharing, learning and the development of common understanding. Most collaboration requires leadership, but leadership can take the form of community within a decentralised and egalitarian group. Teams can more easily access resources and gain recognition and rewards over competitors. Collaboration can also be present between participants working towards opposing goals, although the term collaboration is rarely used for this.

Methods that encourage structured collaboration encourage self-analysis of behaviour and communication. These methods are designed to increase the success of the team involved in collaborative problem solving.

First, it is worthwhile to define briefly and simply what is meant by a strategic partner. A strategic partner is a company with which we work together to achieve our goals, a collaborative partner with whom we do not have a traditional relationship of subordination and superiority, i.e. we are not typically talking about traditional customers or suppliers.

When designing a cooperation model, it should be taken into account that:

  • what kind of partnerships are envisaged,
  • where and how we look for strategic partners,
  • in which business areas the cooperation can take place,
  • how to go about developing a partnership.

The two areas indicated in the action were discussed by the South Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency on 18 November 2021 at the so-called 6th stakeholder meeting at the Faculty of General Medicine of the University of Pécs.

 

*Wikipédia –Harmadlagos szektor – https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmadlagos_szektor

** Wikipédia – Együttműködés – https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egy%C3%BCttm%C5%B1k%C3%B6d%C3%A9s

 

The Medtech4 Europe project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and Hungary within the Interreg Europe Program.