After a successful trade mission in 2019 and with the subsequent 2020 edition unfortunately postponed, the Digital Reconnect Texas organized by NBSO Texas, Health Holland and Task Force Health Care, provided a virtual platform to for new and old relations to hear about the latest developments and opportunities with keynotes from the Greater Houston Partnership and Austin Healthcare Council.
The event was opened by Micha van Lin, Managing Director at Task Force Health Care and Edwin Maarseveen, Counselor for Health, Welfare and Sports at Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United States: “Texas is the place to get things done, so we especially want to support Dutch businesses to connect to the incredible LSH-partners within Texas health community”, Edwin mentioned.
The introduction was followed by presentations from Torrey Adams, Sr. Director Global Life Sciences from Greater Houston Partnership and Gus Cardenas, CEO and Co-Founder of the Austin Healthcare Council.
On the side of Houston, Torrey Adams explained how the Bayou city is becoming the Third Coast for Life Sciences, from curing cancer to fighting COVID-19, with world-class medical centers, research institutes and private companies.
In this same line, Gus Cardenas mentioned that Austin is becoming an international hub for Healthcare innovation, reinforced by the growing high-tech sector in the area. “Tech workers have moved to the Austin area in masse during the pandemic. A report from LinkedIn ranked the Austin metro area No. 1 in the nation for the highest net migration of tech company workers between May 2020 and April 2021”.
After a session of questions and answers from the audience, it was the turn of round tables hosted by great experts: Nora Belcher, Executive Director of Texas e-Health Alliance; Fiona Mack, Head of Johnson & Johnson Labs at Texas Medical Center and Eric Smith, Chief Digital Officer of Memorial Hermann, who shared they valuable knowledge in their respective fields and responded all the questions from the participants.
Both the Dutch companies and the local organizations appreciated the opportunity for a rich dialogue, and they look forward to continuing the collaboration in the Life Sciences and Healthcare sector.