11th TIC Salut i Social R&D&I Conference addresses the role of AI in patient care

The new paradigm generated by artificial intelligence in patient care will be the central theme of the 11th TIC Salut i Social R&D&I Conference to be held on 20, 21, 27 and 28 October. The Conference, which like last year will be held as a series of webinars, aims to be a platform for discussion on ICT in the fields of Health and Social care in order to promote further knowledge transfer and research. Patient-centred and community-based social and health care integration is a challenge that must be accompanied by the digital transformation of organizations.

Marina Geli, Director General of the UVic-UCC School of Medicine and Coordinator of the Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS) states that “the pandemic has shown how rigorous data analysis can make relevant contributions for people and for the community. Artificial intelligence applied to epidemiology, alert forecasting, drug and vaccine research can be the key to preventing, controlling and improving people’s health and lives. Offering extraordinary support for health and social research”.

And she adds that “[…] we want, through the conference, to reflect and contribute, ethical and proven national and international actions and future incorporations of artificial intelligence in health and social systems”.

Artificial intelligence can offer great support in the field of health and social care. Algorithms can not only draw more accurate conclusions about diseases in a shorter time, but they can further refine a diagnosis and help improve the management of social and health care centres. Although algorithms in medicine have always existed, a further step is now being taken towards prediction and more personalized experience. In the social care sector algorithms are very useful in large-scale processes to manage very large volumes of data. The potential of artificial intelligence, therefore, is still a field that needs exploring further and that offers multiple possibilities.

The 11th TIC Salut i Social R&D&I Conference is organized by the ICT Social Health Care Chair of the University of Vic – Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), the TIC Salut Social Foundation (Ministry of Health of the Government of Catalonia), the Vic Hospital Consortium, the Santa Creu de Vic Hospital Foundation, the EAP/ABS Centelles, the EAP Vic, the Catalan Health Institute-Central Catalonia Management Team, Althaia Foundation and FORES. It is also sponsored by Seidor.

Four visions of artificial intelligence

This year’s programme once again feature high-level speakers, including Eleonora Harwich, Eduard Fosch, Ignacio Fuentes and Juliana Ribera. The Conference will be opened by Josuè Sallent, director of the ICT Social Health Care Chair and the Tic Salut Social Foundation, and will be presented by journalist Karma Peiró. The first webinar will be broadcast from 6 to 8 pm, and the rest will be from 4 to 6 pm.

One of the topics related to artificial intelligence that will be debated at the 11th TIC Salut i Social R&D&I Conference will be public policies. This will be the topic of discussion on 20 October, with the participation of Eleonora Harwich, Head of Collaborations, NHS AI Lan at NHSX; Joan Carles March, professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health-EASP.

The webinar for the second session, on 21 October, will address “The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Applied to Health and Social Care.” On this occasion, the guest speakers will be Eduard Fosch, Assistant Professor at Leiden University; Albert Sabater, Serra Húnter Associate Professor & Director of the Catalan Observatory for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence (oeiac.cat); Itziar de Lecuona, Associate Professor, School of Medicine & Assistant Director Bioethics and Law Observatory-UNESCO Chair in Bioethics; and Karina Gibert, Intelligent Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Researcher.

The third session of the conference, on 27 October, is entitled “Keynote Speech & Capsules of Applied Experiences of Artificial Intelligence”. The keynote speech will be given by Xavier Ferràs, Associate Professor, Operations Management, Innovation and Data Sciences at ESADE Business & Law School, followed by a presentation of various applied experiences. These experiences will be presented by Carles Ramió, professor of Political Science at the UPF, public director and essayist; Raimon Dalmau, Head of the Information Systems, ICT and Data Area (CIO); Anna Escalé, Family Medicine. EAP Navàs-Balsareny. SAP Bages-Berguedà-Solsonès; Carolina Garcia-Vidal, Infectious Diseases Consultant at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.

The final session, scheduled for 28 October, will revolve around “Strategies for Adopting Artificial Intelligence.” An explanation of the foundations of the Health/AI Programme will be given by Josuè Sallent and will count on the participation, as actors in the ecosystem, of Salvador Pedraza, specialist in Radiology; Pere Romero, specialist in Ophthalmology; Julianna Ribera, of Amalfianalytics.com, and Pau Rodríguez, of Methinks.ai.