At the beginning of June, the international founding team "future-link" from the Startup Campus of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) received an EXIST startup grant of €131,500 for their idea of a retrofit solution for easy machine data collection.

The young founders—Shivam Parmar (India), Ali Aljalali (Syria), and Johannes Bardon (Germany) got to know each other at DIT and have set themselves the goal of offering companies a manufacturer-independent plug-and-play retrofit solution for recording machine data. This should then be able to be used for fully automated process monitoring of machinery. Since older machines often lack the necessary interfaces for data extraction, future-link is developing a product using DIT's patented "Method and System for Machine Data Collection" (DE102019101132). This product enables uncomplicated machine data collection (MDE) without external sensors or existing interfaces. Additionally, the startup offers operational data collection (BDE), which, when combined with MDE, provides a comprehensive overview of the production process. To ensure information security, the data traffic of the system, which runs on Raspberry Pi and Windows, can operate within a completely independent network, separate from the manufacturing operation.

Having moved into the Startup Lab in Veilchengasse, Deggendorf, the three founders now have twelve months to turn their prototype into a market-ready product. Concurrently, they are also working on expanding their business model.

On Tuesday, 23 April, the first national workshop of the Interreg Danube Region project "NRGCOM" took place. It was organised and hosted by the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) as a partner in the project. The focus was on Energy Communities and how they can best develop in the region.

The NRGCOM project was launched in January and aims to create an environment in which renewable energy communities can flourish in the Danube region. This aim was also addressed by the workshop on 23 April. After the project presentation by Agnes Frank, DIT’s project manager, Prof. Dr. Raimund Brotsack together with Dr. Robert Bauer introduced the topic. A number of examples of good practice from Fuchstal, from the regional power plant in Cham and from the association Bayerische Bürgerenergie were presented. The participating energy communities and local action groups then discussed potential cost-effective infrastructure solutions and technological developments, as well as how the issue will develop in the future. For the participants, the workshop laid the foundation for cooperation with DIT as a partner in the "NRGCOM" project. In the further course of the project, legal solutions will be researched, operating models analysed and a model for creating favourable conditions for energy communities will be developed. The foundations laid at the first national workshop held by the DIT will be further developed on 3 June. This next workshop on business and governance models of energy communities will take place at the European Campus Rottal-Inn.

The national workshop was preceded by a kick-off event. It took place from 12 to 14 March in Budapest and brought together all 13 project partners from a total of 12 countries. The Interreg Danube Region project "NRGCOM" is led by the South Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency. The overall objective of NRGCOM is to promote energy communities in the Danube region by creating an environment in which community renewable energy initiatives can develop to facilitate the energy transition and increase energy efficiency.

The project runs from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2026 and is funded by the Interreg Danube Region Programme, co-funded by the EU. In total, there are 13 project partners and 14 associated strategic partners from 12 countries. They will review the (legal) framework conditions, analyse business models and governance techniques, collect best practices and solutions and develop policy recommendations. The aim is to raise awareness of the concept and increase its dissemination in the partner countries through awareness-raising activities. It will also propose legal solutions, analyse operational models and provide training.

On 9 and 10 November, the fourth DigiHealthDay (DHD) was hosted by the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI). The international scientific symposium received an impressive 1,323 registrations from 105 nations and brought together more than 450 people on-site and online. Academics, students, policy makers, company representatives and digital health enthusiasts came together to discuss the future of technology use in healthcare. The amount of positive feedback marks the DHD as a leading platform for digital health research, education and networking.

Three plenary sessions, three online sessions, fifteen keynote speeches and one panel discussion: the event’s programme – this year focusing on ethics and regulations, innovation, entrepreneurship, and AI research – gave the DigiHealth community a platform to exchange ideas, discuss challenges and spark future collaborations. It was a rare opportunity for on-site attendees whose level of expertise ranged from academic backgrounds to simple interest, to engage directly with some of the world's foremost experts on digital health. International speakers included Dipak Kalra, PhD (United Kingdom), Rajendra Gupta, PhD (India), Anne Snowdon of HIMSS Analytics, PhD (Canada), Miklós Szócska, PhD (Hungary) and Lars Lindsköld, MD (Sweden), to name but a few.

The DHD was particularly impactful for Digital Health students and young professionals, like Ali Badran, Bachelor of Health Informatics at DIT, who says that “[DHD 2023] was a fantastic opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from others, and build connections that will undoubtedly contribute to [his] future endeavors.” 

In turn, the speakers and guests were highly impressed by the youthful, diverse and inspiring nature of the DigiHealth family in Pfarrkirchen. “My head is still buzzing from the conversations and great insights shared during the DHD. The energy of the students was contagious, and it makes me very optimistic about the future of digital health”, remarked one of the speakers, Pilar Fernandez Hermida (United Kingdom & United Arab Emirates).

Planning is already underway for the five-year anniversary conference taking place from 4 to 8 November 2024. The DigiHealthDay – initiated by Georgi Chaltikyan, MD, PhD in 2019 – is part of the ECRI’s committment to further research, education and innovation in digital health.

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More information on DigiHealthDay at https://www.th-deg.de/digihealthday