Teckno2030 in Action

What are your project objectives?

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With Teckno2030 in Action, we aim to continue the work of the Teckno2030 think tank by providing each target profile with tailored methods and tools to apply the 8 principles.Our project seeks to create opportunities for knowledge exchange and provide methodological tools to enable different profiles to apply these principles. On one hand, it involves establishing and supporting a learning community—individuals committed to developing or improving practices through collective learning. This community grows through participatory workshops, meetings, and events that allow participants to discuss the best ways to apply the 8 principles. On the other hand, we’re creating a toolkit to provide individuals and organizations across all target profiles with concrete guidelines and methods to apply the principles. This toolkit will be developed through guided exchanges and a collaborative process.

Why is your project important?

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In the fields of innovation and technology, terms like “responsible innovation” and “trustworthy technologies” are widely recognized. Since the AI boom, discussions about frameworks guiding these issues have become increasingly prominent. We believe the 8 principles provide an ideal framework for the entire healthcare ecosystem because they are relevant across all profiles in this ecosystem, giving everyone a shared direction—a powerful motivator.

How are you proceeding?

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We began with an awareness campaign to rally support for the 8 principles, aiming to increase their visibility, especially in French-speaking areas where they were less known. Our approach also aimed to increase the number of signatories to the charter committing to these principles and to form an initial group ready to participate in future activities. We later expanded these efforts across Belgium.

In parallel, we started developing the toolkit using a collaborative, iterative method to ensure it meets the needs of our four target profiles: patients and citizens, healthcare professionals, technology developers, and innovation managers. We partnered with representatives from each profile and organized workshops for both French- and Dutch-speaking participants, allowing them to inspire each other, collaborate, and experiment together. These workshops also fostered the growth of a learning community centred on the 8 principles.

What challenges have you faced?

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The main challenge has been adapting to the project's broad scope, which spans the entire country and involves numerous actors and partners. For example, we had to establish a shared language to facilitate exchanges among all participants—from technology developers to citizens to healthcare professionals. This sometimes delayed project progress, but ultimately allowed us to go further and produce richer results by co-creating with a wider range of stakeholders.

What lessons have you learned from this process?

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Significant awareness efforts are needed to show that everyone has a role in implementing the principles. It’s not only the responsibility of technology developers to apply the 8 principles, nor solely the role of public authorities to certify compliant technologies. Future users (patients, citizens, and healthcare professionals) must also know how to use these principles to decide whether to adopt these technologies and make effective use of them.