In its annual Signals Radar, Greiner Innoventures, the innovation hub of Greiner AG, this year focused on the healthcare and diagnostics sector. Under the – deliberately provocative – title "the disruption of death", the trend report outlines how innovative technologies can help people live healthier and longer lives.
The reason for this focus was not least the Covid 19 pandemic, which has already accelerated numerous innovations in the healthcare and diagnostics sector over the past two years. Climate change and the energy crisis also flow into the hypotheses of the Signal Radar – after all, it is primarily external and unavoidable influences that increase the pressure to innovate and drive the emergence of new technologies. In the future analysis, 14 industry-relevant trends were identified and hypotheses for the period from 2030 onwards were drawn up.
"With our trend report, we want to broaden our perspective, deepen established ideas and stimulate discussion. Of course, we do not claim that every scenario will come to pass in exactly the same way. But in order to be successful in the future, we have to discuss possible scenarios today so as not to be surprised later. The Greiner Signals Radar forms the basis for the investment focus, the so-called 'Action Fields', of Greiner Innoventures," says Hannes Möseneder, Managing Director of Greiner Innoventures.
Decarbonization of healthcare and human enhancement as examples of trends
One of the 14 identified trends is the decarbonization of the healthcare sector. After all, almost five percent of global CO2 emissions are generated in this sector, as energy-intensive high technology is increasingly being used there. In view of the climate crisis, the healthcare sector must therefore also take preventive measures to radically reduce its own emissions. Another trend is human enhancement. This includes the further development and improvement of human abilities by using modern technologies – for example, by editing genes to have greater muscular capacity. All results of the Greiner Signals Radar 2022 can be found here: Greiner Signals Radar 2022 (greiner-innoventures.com)
Expertise from Greiner Bio-One, from science and from the start-up scene
The expert panel used for the Greiner Signals Radar 2022 consists of eleven people, including three experts from the division subsidiary Greiner Bio-One and eight additional external experts from the healthcare and diagnostics sector. The external experts come from academic institutions as well as from the start-up sector, so that both scientifically based and innovation-driven expertise could flow into the analyses. Future trends were first examined based on social factors (demographics, social change, etc.), technical factors (technologies such as artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, etc.), economic factors (global economic developments, etc.) and ecological factors (climate change). In a further step, these factors were linked to concrete developments in the health sector.
The Greiner Signals Radar has been compiled annually since 2017. In the previous year, the focus of the analysis was on packaging for food products. Next year, the focus will presumably be on foams.
About Greiner Innoventures
Greiner Innoventures is Greiner’s innovation hub, working with start-ups as a corporate business angel to develop their ideas further. Greiner Innoventures looks where the future is happening and systematically implements these future issues in an entrepreneurial way.
www.greiner-innoventures.com
