It’s been an exciting few weeks since our last newsletter, including the first face-to-face event for Innovate UK’s Mindset-XR award holders (round 1 and round 2), held at the offices of techUK. At the event our innovators gave fantastic pitches, really engaging both hearts and minds.
I reflected on how immersive technologies fit in the context of Roger’s five factors affecting adoption – relative advantage, compatibility, simplicity, trialability and observability. Understanding of the relative advantage is growing (eg: see our recent clinical use case roundtable), trialling these technologies is a must and we are seeing more integration of XR with validated mental health questionnaires and biofeedback sensors to aide observability.
To help with simplicity – as the XR market is relatively nascent and the evidence base is emergent – it’s important to include a theory of change in our pitches, helping people to quickly understand the underpinning mechanisms for improved health, for example, addressing self-criticism which negatively impacts on mental health, providing healthy escapism for those seeking to overcome addictions. Compatibility continues as a significant area of focus for us and for this we need to continue to grow our network of front lines teams and commissioners – so please share our newsletter with colleagues, thank you!
As we come to the end of 2024 and at the time of year that can be particularly difficult for people – let’s keep looking out for each other and working hard to bring innovative solutions to those in need.
Remember that you can find out more about the Mindset-XR Innovator Support Programme by checking our dedicated web pages, where you'll find information on all our partners and the latest news and blogs about the programme alongside a range of other useful resources.
We wish you all a happy and peaceful festive season.
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Many thanks to everyone who attended our webinar in November on 'How to write a successful bid'.
We are pleased to confirm our next webinar, 'Demystifying the regulation of XR/VR technologies', will be held on Tuesday, February 18 2025, from 3 - 4pm.
This free-to-attend online event is being presented by Dr Hugh Harvey (Managing Director, Hardian Health) and Dr Felicity Lock (Clinical Associate, Hardian Health) and will provide innovators with an introduction to the regulation of virtual and extended reality medical devices, focusing on mental health conditions.
Hardian Health will cover the purpose and importance of regulations and share some takeaways that all innovators working in this space should know.
They will also explore the future of UK medical device regulations and the changing regulatory landscape, finishing with plenty of time for a Q&A.
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Last week, the Mindset-XR Innovation Support Programme welcomed partners to its first in-person Shared Learning Event to discuss driving innovation in the mental health space while testing a range of exciting cutting-edge immersive technology.
The event, at techUK in London, welcomed 15 of the UKRI funded innovators to share their journey. Jill Owens, National Programme Manager for the Mindset-XR Innovation Support Programme said: “We were delighted to see so many innovators at the event. Peer-to-peer learning and networking at these kinds of events is so useful for finding solutions to the challenges in health innovation.”
A panel comprising Robert Walker, Head of Health and Social Care, techUK, Esme Swindells, Senior Associate, Potter Clarkson and Will Goddard, Managing Director, Big Health, and chaired by Rishi Das-Gupta, discussed Policy, Protection, and Partnerships before taking questions from the floor. Discussions covered the importance of collaboration between different sectors to help scale solutions, and how the future of mental health tech lies in creating inclusive, personalised, and culturally sensitive tools that complement traditional care practices.
Robert Walker, Head of Health and Social Care at techUK, led the discussion on the new NHS marketplace, due to be launched in 2025, that will act like an App Store to provide clinicians with the most appropriate digital therapy for their local communities.
Will Goddard, MD of Big Health, reminded us of the importance of moving towards a system where clinicians are prescribing digital therapeutics to patients with the same ease they currently prescribe medication.
We have regular webinars, online and face-to-face events to support our innovators and you can find out more about them from future issues of this newsletter or by contacting hin.mindset@nhs.net.
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This month for our company spotlight we are pleased to introduce Holo-Log.
Adam Wacy, Founder of Holo-Log, shares his top three pieces of advice for fellow innovators, talks about the challenges he has faced in developing Holo-Log and explains how his innovation will help tackle inequalities in the treatment of those with mental health conditions.
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Designs Foundations Round 6
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £2 million for people centred and systemic design projects. These are across a range of themes and innovation areas to influence, inform and de-risk R&D activities.
The competition closes on 15 January 2025 and you can find out more and apply here.
The UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme
This government-backed initiative has been set up to help UK tech firms grow in the Asia Pacific region, de-risking and accelerating the growth of the sector. The Programme provides support for UK firms to expand in 11 APAC markets: Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.
If you are a technology startup or scaleup, are headquartered in the UK, and are keen to explore opportunities in APAC, look no further.
Find out more here.
Proposal preparation grants for 2024 and 2025 calls
Innovate UK and the British Academy have funding schemes open for Horizon Europe Pump Priming Grants, to enable SMEs, research organisations and universities in the UK to build partnerships and develop proposals.
Horizon Europe is the EU’s largest research and innovation programme ever, with a budget of over €95 billion for 2021–2027 and offering significant opportunities for accessing new knowledge, partners, markets, and resources.
If you are planning a submission to a 2024 or 2025 Horizon Europe call, one of the below schemes may support the development of your proposal:
- British Academy Horizon Europe Pump Priming
Principal Investigators at universities and research institutions can apply for a grant of up to £10,000 to help them in their preparations for submitting a Horizon Europe proposal for Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe – Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness.
Find out more here.
- Innovate UK Horizon Europe Pump Priming
UK SMEs can apply for a grant of up to £5000 (Ex-VAT) to help in their preparation for submitting a Horizon Europe proposal for a collaborative opportunity. This could be used to fund attendance at networking events, to contribute to the cost of joining associations and other activities that are solely directed at future Horizon Europe participation.
Find out more here.
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We're delighted to offer a set of free learning resources designed to help mental health innovators working in the extended reality space navigate some of the challenges associated with transitioning their concepts and ideas into products and interventions.
We have published three sets of on-demand learning resources which cover Medical Regulation (from Hardian Health) Lived experience involvement (from MQ) and Research and clinical evidence (from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King's College London).
There will be further modules coming soon and we will share details of those in forthcoming issues of this newsletter.
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Help to Grow: Management Essentials Course
The UK Government is continuing to offer support to small businesses via its Help to Grow programme, with its latest free self-guided online course that includes bite-sized videos and online resources covering different business topics.
The Management Essentials Course is aimed at leaders of newer or smaller SMEs, or those who are looking to explore the principles of business growth and management before taking the next step and enrolling in the full course.
Find out more about what is on offer at the Help to Grow website.
UK Tech SMEs: Driving Economic Growth and Innovation
Tech UK has recently published a report illustrating the critical impact of tech SMEs across the nations and regions.
Find out more and access the report here.
Accessibility & AI webinar
A recently held webinar by Tech UK looked at the pros and cons of various uses of AI in accessibility, to help companies understand where it can accelerate their accessibility efforts, where they might need to take care in using it, and how to separate the hype from the opportunities.
For those unable to attend, a recording of the webinar is now available to watch via HiHub.
Proposed changes to low risk clinical trials
The laws which regulate the way clinical trials of medicines are carried out in the UK are changing, and the NHS Health Research Authority (HRA) has launched a survey to gain feedback on one of the proposed changes.
The aim is to simplify the way that informed consent is sought and recorded in low risk clinical trials, and the HRA wants to make sure the proposed changes work for everyone.
You can find out more and take part in the survey here.
Latest version of the Local Digital Capital Index launched
The UK's digital economy is significant, employing 1.7 million people and contributing around £99 billion to the UK economy each year.
The latest version of the Local Digital Capital Index put together by TechUK and partners, brings together detailed data and insights into the sectors, companies, and infrastructure that drive growth and technological advancement across the country.
Find out more and access the Local Digital Capital Index here.
New report showcases potential of quantum technologies in healthcare
A recently published report from Innovate UK has highlighted the potentially revolutionary applications of quantum technologies for the healthcare and life sciences industry.
Download the Quantum For Life report here.
UK Government outlines priorities for Ofcom
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has published a statement of strategic priorities for the online safety regulator, Ofcom, as it prepares to implement and enforce the laws set out in the Online Safety Act next year.
Peter Kyle, the Technology Secretary of State, has listed five key areas which are safety by design, transparency and accountability, agile regulation, inclusivity and resilience and technology and innovation.
Find out more here.
Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) response to Industrial Strategy Green Paper
Following a speech at Chatham House by CMA CEO Sarah Cardell on how the authority will aim to promote growth, it has published its response to the recent 'Invest 2035: The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy' Green Paper.
The response sets out how it would improve the way it works to support economic growth and investment.
You can find out more and read the full response here.
Mental Health data sources
Datamind is a service provided by the Health Data Research Hub for Mental Health, and offers fully searchable UK mental health datasets across the four nations.
Find out more about their Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) curated mental health data here.
The Autumn Budget 2024: what's in it for tech?
Following the Budget unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October, techUK have produced a report, analysing the key points relevant to companies in the tech sector.
Find out more here.
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Insights hours being run by the Healthy Ageing Community of Practice
Thurs 30 Jan: Design and adoption
Thurs 27 Feb: Privacy and ethics in innovation (data in the health and care systems)
Thurs 27 Mar: Ecosystem mapping (understanding the importance of stakeholder relationships in designing healthcare innovation).
Save the dates in your diary now and more details and links to register free for these events will be included in our January Newsletter.
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We hope you have enjoyed this Newsletter. Please feel free to forward on to any contacts you have who you think will find it useful.
If you have received this Newsletter from a colleague and would like to be added to our direct mailing list, please contact us and we will make sure you receive the next issue in January.
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