THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
The era of data-enabled healthc will Europe become a global lea in this area? New technical possibilities have significantly accelerated the pace of research and medical progress
by Dr. Klaus Esser, former CEO of Mannesmann, Düsseldorf and former Managing Director at General Atlantic, New York
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or the past twenty and more years, digitalisation, smart networks and globalisation have been huge ongoing trends that have transformed the way we live and work, the way we do business and even national economies all over the world at a rapid pace. It seems unlikely that the speed of these change processes will slow down in the near future; in fact, they are happening increasingly faster. These trends harbour dangers. Traditional industries and regions left behind in the wake of the increasing competitive pressures and many long-established companies are either shrinking in size or disappearing altogether. People are losing their jobs. The dramatically increased accessibility of private data poses a massive risk to privacy and data security. However, the benefits of these three huge trends outweigh these and other dangers a hundred times and more. If the political
discussion focuses only on dangers, it risks missing out on this hundredfold increase of opportunities. Digitalisation, smart networks and globalisation have also dramatically accelerated the pace of medical progress. While there has always been progress in medicine, now many new and as yet unexplored fields have opened up and are therefore matters for future research and progress. Besides a better medical research performance, data technology and smart networks also make it possible for physicians to access data precisely where it needs to be in order to diagnose or treat a patient. This hugely improves the quality of the medical care that the patients receive and is also much more economical.
The time is ripe!
What is the pace of this progress in data-enabled healthcare within the European Union? Europe take heed: you are lagging behind in almost all areas where digitalisation, smart networks and online business models have propelled other countries forward in leaps and bounds. Will digital health be the field in which Europe at long last does better? The conditions here are favourable! The time is ripe: Europe desperately needs a success story in the digital world! A few Dr. Klaus Esser countries in the European Union are still global Born in 1947, he studied law in Tübingen, Geneva, Munich. leaders in the industries that date back to the Attorney at Law Munich (1974). He holds an MBA of the Masera before digitalisation and smart networks, sachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied Business such as the automotive, engineering, and pharAdministration from 1975/76 and was a Lawyer in New York maceuticals, fashion, premium-quality food and 1976/77. Dr. jur. in law from Regensburg University in 1978. many other industry sectors. However, in the Klaus Esser had then been for 23 years with Mannesmann Photo: © Thomas Dashuber area of online business models, software or the incl. as Chief Financial Officer, and finally CEO, achieving EUR realisation of smart networks, US companies 180 billion for his shareholders in the un-invited take-over by Vodafone in 2000. dominate and compete with rapidly expanding For General Atlantic, New York, he was Head of German Activities from 2001, Chinese firms. Head of Europe from 2005. Advisory Director 2010-2014. Member, Administrative Europe is merely an also-ran! A much-cited Board, CGM CompuGroup Medical. reason for this is that American companies have
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