Digital tech to tackle healthcare challenges

UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £9 million to develop more effective and efficient treatments through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. There is up to £9 million for businesses with ideas to develop novel digital technology solutions for healthcare challenges with funding provided by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and delivered by Innovate UK. Applications close on 31st October 2018.

Accelerating the development of digital innovations

Advancing new and novel digital technologies could significantly improve outcomes for patients, and provide cost benefits for healthcare providers.

The digital health technology catalyst aims to accelerate the development of digital health innovations and grow the sector.

Health-tech firm FundamentalVR has previously received funding through the catalyst. The company is leading a project to develop a VR surgical training platform for students to practice and gain confidence before operating on people.

This competition is part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to deliver leading-edge healthcare in the UK. This £181 million fund will transform how we develop and manufacture medicines and other healthcare products, such as digital technologies, to get the right drugs and treatments to patients when they need them.

Improving on the current system

We are looking for projects that span a variety of technologies, markets and healthcare needs and improve on the current health and care system.

There are 2 competitions that businesses can apply into, depending on the stage of their project:

up to £1 million for feasibility studies
up to £8 million for collaborative research and development

Technologies you could look at include:

virtual and augmented reality
artificial intelligence and machine learning
the Internet of Things
data analytics and security

Your idea could be for use in a clinical or non-clinical setting. This could include digital technologies to:

support clinical decision-making
improve access to healthcare, support treatment compliance or patient-led management
improve the patient experience from disease prevention through to diagnosis, treatment, recovery and long-term care
overcome privacy challenges with managing, sharing and exploiting data
create significant improvements in quality, speed, costs and outcomes

Feasibility studies competition information

the competition is open and the deadline for applications is midday on 31 October 2018
to lead a project, you’ll need to be a UK-based small or medium-sized business (SME)
SMEs can work alone or collaborate with others, including businesses, NHS organisations, universities, research and technology organisations, public sector organisations or charities
your project can last up to 12 months and have total costs of between £50,000 and £75,000
businesses could get up to 70% of their project costs
projects must start by 1 April 2019

Collaborative research and development competition information

the competition is open and the deadline for applications is midday on 31 October 2018
to lead a project, you’ll need to be a UK-based SME
you will need to collaborate with others, including businesses, NHS organisations, universities, research and technology organisations, public sector organisations or charities
your project can last up to 24 months and have total costs of between £300,000 and £1 million
businesses could get up to 70% of their project costs
applicants that meet a quality threshold will be invited to interview from 7 to 11 January 2019
projects must start by 1 April 2019

Find out more about the collaborative research and development competition and apply.