Alan Whiteside

Innovation Consultant developing collaborative innovation networks and projects for NHS Highland, the UKs largest healthcare provider by geographic area. NHS Highland covers an area equivalent to Wales so is keen to explore how 5G offers disruptive opportunities to healthcare services and education delivery. Due to our remote and rural nature, we are interested in a wide range of clinical and non-clinical applications for sensors, IoT, augmented reality, virtual reality, robotics, etc. These interests include primary care, secondary care, tertiary care, water, agriculture, energy, tourism, and leisure, etc. We are keen collaborators, already working in several projects through Horizon 2020 and Interreg programmes, and keen to collaborate more with UK businesses, academics and other public sector organisations.

Healthcare professional developing collaboration between public sector, business, academics and NGOs to keep people well in their own home, early diagnosis and discharge from hospital and green healthcare, with a particular interest in emerging contaminants (chemicals in the water supply, which include pharmaceuticals, micro-plastics, personal care products, pesticides, herbicides and endocrine-disrupting compounds at trace levels for which the risk to human health is not known.)

NHS Highland provides remote and rural healthcare to the Highlands of Scotland, covering an area equivalent to Belgium but with a population of just 330,000 inhabitants.

This stimulates a desire for cross-sector collaboration, with many of the sectors relying on the environment; life sciences, renewable energy, food and drink, creative industries, and travel.

We are developing collaborative partnerships and keen to speak to those that share our interests in remote healthcare and green healthcare and hear about opportunities in other areas with the potential to improve the quality of life in remote and rural communities.