Virtual ATF-Talk

Friday, 22 January 2021

Friday, 26 February 2021

Friday, 26 March 2021

Friday, 07 May 2021

Friday, 2 July 2021

Friday, 17 September 2021

Friday, 19 November 2021

«There are no boundries.»

In the 7th ATF Talk, Oliver Stoller, Managing Director RESC of ETH Zurich reported on the mission and vision of the RESC and gave insights into their daily activities. The topic of "Innovations vs. Financing Models" was already addressed in the talk and will be highlighted and discussed in more detail at ATF22 on 17/18 March 2022. 

Other topics of discussion were the Cybathlon 2024 and the RehabWeek 2022 in Rotterdam. 

«If you want to make a change, you have to start from where you are.»

In the 6th ATF Talk, Tove Christiansson, CEO of Abilia talked about building/merging their company and the importance of having a common mission to achieve great things.

She sees MDR as a great opportunity for the AT industry, but there's still a lot of awareness-work to be done. For this to happen, the AT industry needs to come together, form partnerships and leverage common strengths.
Innovation, government funding and the passion of the industry were other topics of discussion.

«Robots will become much more present in the future than we think today.»

In the 5th ATF Talk, Michael Früh and Gery Colombo from F&P Robotics introduced Lio, the versatile robot. Today, it is already used in institutions, schools and at home. It provides various assistance tasks and is constantly learning new ones and thus increases the independence and autonomy of people with disabilities. There are a lot of synergies with the AT sector in the future.

«Be brave and go for it.»

The use of 3D printers opens up entirely new worlds, including in the field of orthopaedic and rehabilitation technology. Daniel Gelbart, CEO and member of the board of directors at ORTHO-TEAM Group, is a Swiss pioneer in his field and shared an exciting insight at the 4th ATF Talk. In the interview, he talked about his ambitious plans for internal digitalisation, the development of orthopaedic lifestyle products and his innovative visions for the future of the entire industry.

Opportunities and impacts of the new MDR regulations. 
The new MDR regulations have a major impact on many European companies. As of May 26, 2021, all medical devices sold to the EU will have to be certified
and registered. Although this means a lot of extra time and financial effort for all parties involved, it is an important step forward and valuable for the AT market. The regulations raise awareness and lay the foundation - the AT industry hopes - for continued excellent services and improved product quality. Various opinions and insights from manufacturers, importers, retailers and MDR experts provided plenty of material for a lively industry exchange at the 3rd ATF-Talk.

Participants in the panel discussion: Nadine Farris (Inclusive Technology Ltd.), Jürgen Kohl (Rehavista), Paul Thompson (Ablenet), Jeff McBride (Alveo Technologies), Paul Rowden (European Device Solutions Ltd.) and Fiore Capone (Active Communication). 

More than 70 participants followed the online meeting.

Changes and how to deal with uncertain situations due to business takeovers, Brexit and COVID-19 were discussed, as well as the inspiring spirit in the Smartbox team. Future business travelling, the virtual ATIA of the beginning of the year and the foundation of DATEurope were also topics of discussion at the 2nd virtual ATF Talk.

The first virtual ATF-Talk was a great success. About 35 participants followed the interview between Fiore Capone and Uli Ehlert, board member of ATIA and managing director of Rehadapt. Among other things, they discussed the opportunities for the AT industry resulting from the pandemic and the effects of the current accelerated digitalisation.  The renowned ATiA was also a topic, as this event will be held in digital form for the first time in over 20 years.