HEC Paris students present eHealth projects at 2016 Mobile World Congress
Nine HEC Paris MiM students from the specialization in Digital Business took part in a 3-day Internet of Things FrenchTech Hackathon at the world’s largest mobile industry event in Barcelona, beginning February 22nd. They pitched their two health tech projects addressing issues affecting the Public Hospitals of Paris through wearable devices.
With more than 2,200 participating companies, 100,000 attendees and a range of prestigious keynote speakers such as Mark Zuckerberg, Lewis Hamilton and Sir Martin Sorrell, the Mobile World Congress (MWC) is the largest event in the tech calendar. A hotbed of the latest gadgets, technologies and ideas, the mammoth exhibition and conference act as a window both on the future ways in which we might live our lives, and the companies and key figures that will be creating and providing the tools to do so.
As well as hosting the giants of the tech industry, the MWC is also a chance for the next generation of change agents to showcase their talent on the world stage at the FrenchTech Hackathon, one of the exposition’s special events co-organized by Agorize and FrenchTech. After impressing the jury at February’s Internet of Things Challenge , an initiative open to Masters in Management (MiM) students from the specialization in Digital business, a team of nine from HEC Paris was selected to take part in the Hackathon and pitch their two eHealth projects addressing issues affecting the Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (Public Hospitals of Paris). Another example of the flourishing state of entrepreneurship in France, eHealth represents all things technological falling under the banner of health.
Having already designed prototypes for their wearable devices with the help of Ateliers Draft and TechShop Leroy Merlin, the team was ready to pitch their innovative projects to professionals, journalists and experts alike. The team’s first project, "HomeLife", aims to facilitate the post-operation care given to patients through the use of a wearable device called "Spiri" that transmits crucial medical information to doctors. The second project, "aRiane", uses wearable devices to help hospital accident and emergency departments to cope better in times of particular strain.
With juries made up of experts from big-name companies as diverse as BlaBlaCar, Critéo and VC judging the competition, the team was able to show off their projects to the leading figures in the tech sector. What’s more, the group was invited to speak live on Catalunya Radio (from 13 mintues onwards) about their two impressive initiatives.
Dominique Yang, a member of the HEC Paris team, commented: "Participating in the FrenchTech Hackathon at the Mobile World Congress was a superb opportunity. We were not only able to accelerate our project with the help of experts, but we also received much visibility thanks to FrenchTech. Barcelona was a super environment in which to work and we really got the impression that anything was possible! Thanks to Agorize and FrenchTech for giving us this opportunity!"