On 28 January 2015, the Institute of Digital Healthcare (IDH) at WMG hosted Fostering Digital Healthcare Collaborations, an event organised by the West Midlands Health Informatics Network (WIN). WIN is a West Midlands Academic Health Science Network-supported project, hosted by IDH.

The aim of this event was to encourage networking and partnerships across stakeholder groups from around the West Midlands and beyond, the ultimate aim of which is to improve outcomes for patients and carers.

The programme included scheduled talks from exhibitors, with show-and-tell sessions, to showcase research, products and services.

The event was attended by an audience from public sector, industry and academia. This proved to be the most highly attended WIN Open Network event to date. Informal feedback received during and after the event indicates that many successful contacts were made and that areas for future collaborations have already been identified.

Exhibitors at the event included: Arissian Ltd, Birmingham Science City, Boilerhouse Media, CheckWare Ltd, Coventry University Enterprises, Data Umbrella, Digital Birmingham, Equivital, IDH, Memrica, MyAmego Healthcare Ltd, Webmoco, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, WMAHSN, and WMG.

WIN continues to increase its membership, allowing for more valuable connections to be made. With a full programme of varied events planned for the forthcoming year, it is anticipated that network members will have access to a wide range of professionals across professional and geographic boundaries. Ultimately, this can only lead to the development of more effective, efficient approaches to healthcare.