Personalization in Health, Food, and Pharma

IEEE Workshop on Personalized Health Informatics in London, UK January 24-25, 2007

One of the major fields of growth in mass customization & personalization is the health sector. The traditional system is focused on "block buster" pharmaceuticals (= standard mass products) and the care-taking of "illnesses". A new approach is to personalize medicines (pharma-cogenetics) and to develop customized nutrition, wellness offerings, and fitness / training programs to match individual requirements.

During the upcoming MCPC 2007 conference, Personalization in Health, Food, and Pharma will be a special track !

The IEEE, a main standardization body, has now initiated a new working group to develop an comprehensive set of solutions for that shall "facilitate the development and usage of a comprehensive set of Internet-based tools that place the individual (and his/her dependents) at the center of an encompassing architecture of services that promote and enhance health."

Thanks to MadeforOne.com I learned about this group. I think that this kind of joint collaborative activities are what it needs to push mass customization further.

Jose C. Lacal, one of the group co-chairs and a Sr.Manager at Motorola's Seamless Health Center of Excellence, described the objectives of the group as follows:

"There is a need for Personalized Health Informatics (PHI) systems to manage all the relationships that influence an individual's health. This standard is geared towards optimizing an individual's health, mostly outside of the scope of a health care provider. This standard is not about personal health records (that is being address already by many other organizations). This proposal is to create a "family health dashboard" where all relevant information (nutrition, environmental issues, published research, etc.) are brought together in an easy-to-use tool to enhance a family's health. Most people would be familiar with a 'financial dashboard.'

There is an open call for participation at the first workshop of the IEEEP2407 working group. At a time when health delivery systems worldwide are under enormous strain, IEEE2407 is designed to provide consumers with the tools to both stay healthy and to improve their health.

The workshop will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, January 24 and 25, 2007 in London, UK. The workshop will be hosted by Motorola and Kingston University's Mobile Information and Network Technologies Research Centre (MINT@K).

The latest agenda is available at http://www.ieee2407.org/files//ws01_agenda.pdf

More information at http://www.ieee2407.org/ws01.html. For those unable to attend, a conference telephone bridge will be provided via e-mail once you register.