Kristaps Krafte: Cooperation Is Important to Successful Innovation

Kristaps Krafte is the Founder and Manager of the digital therapeutic start-up Vigo Health. Here he speaks about digitalisation, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, and his recommendations for what to attend at Research Week 2021.

Digitalisation in medicine and healthcare can function as a platform to achieve greater efficiency. It is the future of these industries.

It is already clear that digitalisation is helping to solve a variety of problems, such as improving the availability of services and optimising resources. digitalisation can also help develop tools in the field of personalised medicine. It is therefore important to cultivate digital competencies as widely as possible so that these innovations are not only limited to a narrow circle of professionals and patients.

‘At Vigo Health, we make rehabilitation more accessible to people who have suffered from strokes and head injuries,' says Kristaps Krafte.
 
'When I began doing business in healthcare, it was clear that this endeavour would involve working with several other companies, research centres and healthcare institutions. Cooperation is after all important to successful innovation, especially in healthcare. Our company has established partnerships with several health care institutions, including the Vaivari National Rehabilitation Center and 5 hospitals across Latvia, as well as Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) and LMT.’

Digitalisation requires new forms of cooperation. It is imperative to bring together professionals from different industries who can help find the best solutions and offer new innovative products and services to the public. Developing research-based innovation is these companies’ key resource. Research provides them with more capacity and the data obtained allows them to reach new horizons and provide greater added value.

‘We have conducted an internationally recognised study on the usability of Vigo in collaboration with RSU,’ explains Krafte. ‘This year we will launch a randomised controlled trial which is the next phase of clinical testing. Valuable clinical-research data is the cornerstone of medical innovation, and only through research, data and results can innovation reach society successfully.’

Speaking on his participation at Research Week, Krafte describes it as ‘a great opportunity to see and hear the best scientists and most innovative entrepreneurs in Latvia. I recommend paying attention to the Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare section. That's something you really shouldn't miss!

Latvia has great potential in the field of healthcare with healthcare digitalisation rapidly gaining ground, this potential has no limit. Let's bring Latvian innovations out into the world!’