The Amsterdam start-up Clear wants to make a personalized diet accessible to everyone. The new network Council member ties in very well with the Board that believes that sensible applications of AI & Data sciences contribute to a healthier world and better medical care. That's how Board is working on a smart and healthier future.
One of the themes the Amsterdam Economic Board is working on is ensuring that talent with the right skills can be deployed and that 'lifelong development' becomes part of the DNA of the working population. Not only now during the corona crisis, but also due to far-reaching technological developments, the need to reduce the mismatch in the labor market is reinforced. To give this movement extra strength, House of Skills will also be linked to the Amsterdam Economic Board as of April 1, in addition to the existing TechConnect program. House of Skills develops skills tools and a chain approach to experiments with these in pilots and career paths from work to work.
At the initiative of the Amsterdam Economic Board, seven organizations from the Amsterdam metropolis are actively working on identifying and reducing their indirect CO2 emissions, or 'hidden emissions'. By participating in the initiative, called 'Purchasing with Impact', they gain insight into their hidden impact on the most commonly used facility purchasing categories 'catering', 'hot drinks', 'ICT', 'cleaning' and 'work environment', and they can choose the fairer and more conscious purchasing alternative. The participating organizations want to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions and thus stimulate affordable and local supply and demand of products and services, and reduce the demand for non-sustainable items. This must make a substantial contribution to a fairer, more sustainable and more conscious purchasing playing field, with which sustainable purchasing must develop from a niche activity to a 'standard'.
The VU Hackathon Battle bought together five startups that offer innovative technologies to help people with mental health disorders and neurodegenerative diseases to manage anxiety. During the event they finetuned their pitches and embraced a world of partnerships.
The energy transition is being delayed somewhat due to the current corona crisis. But Franc Weerwind and Hans Bakker note that there are also plenty of opportunities: not only thanks to high-quality new technology and new companies, but also in heavy industry and an abundance of unpicked low-hanging fruit. "What we do in terms of sustainability is unique."
The new COVID algorithm can predict which people are at the greatest risk of developing complications after contracting coronavirus. By vaccinating these people first, a study has shown that the risk of hospital intakes could be cut in half after administering just one million vaccinations – potentially saving lives. So, what’s required to scale this data system across the Netherlands? And how can these efforts work to inspire the Amsterdam Economic Board’s goal of creating a unified healthcare data infrastructure?
The Data plus Pizza meetups are back: online and without pizza. For the second non-pizza edition, Amsterdam-based AI & healthcare researchers presented an infectiously inspiring range of models that work to save costs, cut antibiotic use, predict hospital occupancy levels and put deferred treatments back into the timetable. But how do you factor in flexibility?
Service technicians drive back and forth in major cities on their way to repairs, installation and maintenance. Their vans are often not very energy efficient. Nevertheless, electric transport is already possible within service companies, but it is not yet used on a large scale.
The Amsterdam region has become a global leader in applying artificial intelligence to improving health and healthcare. This has not come about by accident. Instead, it is a result of a concerted effort in community building. Through Smart Health Amsterdam, the Amsterdam Economic Board has overseen the development of a network for collaboration and cross-fertilisation, spanning academic, private and governmental organisations.
On 2 December, the first results were presented for a number of themes within the Green Deal Sustainable out of the crisis - on which the Board is working with partners - during the 'State of the Region' event. The aim is to accelerate current initiatives in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area in a short period of time. The reset of the current pandemic provides scope for making sustainable choices.
