Last June we had the opportunity to attend the International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems (CBMS) organised by IEEE and celebrated at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. CBMS figures as the main conference on the application of computational systems in the healthcare sector. It provides an ideal environment for the exchange of ideas and technological know-how between the most important experts on the subject on a global perspective.

Within the conference’s schedule we presented our work: ‘Meeting methodology and technology into Health Big Data Analytics scenarios’ in skyline paper format, available at the IEEE Xplore site.

Our interest in attending the event was dual. On the one hand, publishing and dissemination of our work is one of our key activities within the BSA chair programme. We prepared an article which comprised the methodological and technological basis on which our activities rely on. On the other hand, and most importantly, we wanted to know first-handily the type of work, people and expertise involved in pushing the technological barrier as far as the application of data analytics in healthcare is concerned.

IEEE CNMS 2017 was a scientific programme made out of 9 tracks, among which different lectures were structured. For instance, data analytics on social and medical data, robotised systems, biomedical signalling analysis, patient empowerment as a new paradigm in personal care, etc. Within the aforementioned tracks, highly specialised projects were presented intending an approach on very specific problems of a wide array of healthcare sector areas.

On a slightly different note, the ‘key notes speakers’, globally recognised experts on their respective fields, gladly displayed their vision and offered strategic insight in relation to the transformation of the healthcare sector due to intensive data use.

Our conclusion, we are on the right path. Our collaboration together with the professionals at Badalona Serveis Assistencials is fruitful. Handing a practical solution to a concrete problem in the context of healthcare is one of the key aspects. However, it is not enough to unleash the true potential of transforming the healthcare sector. Therefore, such a technical solution and its respective underlying model would have to be incorporated within the daily routine of primary care healthcare centres, assistance centres, departments and technology systems with the purpose of facilitating a data oriented paradigm shift. Thus, one of the fundamental pillars of our work is based on the aforementioned vision in a practical and integral fashion.