A #DigitalHealth Innovator's Guide to #CES2017

Enjoy this roll-up of how to maximize the opportunity at CES 2017 as a Digital Health professional. As a technophile/old millennial and digital health innovator, I've been around the world and back but never to CES nor Las Vegas so I'm in for a double treat.

In talking with CES veterans, everyone illustrates how overwhelming it is. Well, I thrive off of "overwhelming" so read-on with caution. After lots of research and ninja-like social networking techniques, I've included a casual roadmap of what to do, what to see and who to follow, from an industry perspective.

But first the history - according to Wikipedia (the source of all truth) - the first CES launched in NYC in '67 where tech companies showed off the latest in pocket radios.

Much like SXSW, it had roots in music and began as a spin-off from the Chicago Music Show. The Consumer Electronics Showcase has always stayed true to exhibiting consumer electronics and was historically produced twice a year. Chicago in the Summer and Vegas in the Winter. Over the years it consolidated in Las Vegas and eventually opened to the general public in 1993.

Since then, pretty much every piece of consumer tech has passed through this convention. The themes that emerge year over year are fascinating and tell us a bit about how technology evolves with our lives and many times how our lives are adjusting to technology(this is a whole other topic). In any case, according to the intertubes...Health and Fitness were one of the most dominant themes of CES 2016. I must say I am noticing this trend across every major event. Many tech conferences have developed *featured* digital health tracks and all biotech/lifescience/medical device conferences are now *spotlighting* digital health... this goes for CES, JP Morgan, SXSW, Advamed, Techcrunch disrupt..you name it...

Bottom line, our health is all we have and healthcare is one of the last industries to "get connected." What an amazing time to work at this intersection of technology and human health!!!

So let's zoom into healthtech at CES 2017. Lots of my friends over at the Digital Health Summit and various other tech tracks will be talking about Consumer Health Devices, Precision Medicine, the use of Artificial Intelligence, VR/AR/MR, Sleep, and my favorite topic..Digital Health Venturing.

Follow some of my friends: Jody Holtzman of AARP, Joe Kvedar of Partners Center for Connected Health, Daniel Kraft of Exponential Med, Arshya Vahabzadeh of BrainPower, Dan Munro of Forbes, Justin Barad of Osso VR, Polina Hanin of Startup Health, Lisa Suennen of GE Ventures, Hyuk Jeen Suh of Samsung Ventures.. and many others.

The Event Scene is pretty straight forward:

• Jan 4: Silicon Valley LaunchFEST
• Jan 4: Lifestyle Technology
• Jan 5: Connections Summit
• Jan 5: FitnessTech Summit
• Jan 5: MEMS & Sensors: Personalizing Consumer Tech
• Jan 5-6: Baby Tech Summit
• Jan 5-6: Beauty Tech Summit
• Jan 6-7: Digital Health Summit
• Jan 6: 3D Printing: Evaluating the Evolution
• Jan 7: Booksigning by Dan Munro author of Casino Healthcare (Summit Venue)

Exhibition floor is quite expansive: use this interactive HealthTech Marketplace Exhibitor Map.(Pretty much all of this is happening at the Sands Expo)

There is a lot I haven't covered here and that's exactly the point - #makeitcount You'll still need some gas in the tank for #JPMorgan17 where my buddy Matt Holt is running WinterTech 2.0 and StartupHealth will be producing their festival and the EBD group will be hosting their the Digital Medicine Showcase. Nicole Fisher has been doing a great job covering DMS (check out her whitepaper on the Digital Medicine Crystal Ball ICYMI).

On the "social" side of CES there's definitely no shortage of options. Lots are invitation only, VIP type of lunches/dinners/receptions. I can't mention them here but shoot me a note if you'd like to have yours added to the list. I'll mention that Robert Scoble has been buzzing about the UploadVR event so probably worth checking out for the pure cool-tech factor. Also to check out: SmartCities Hackathon, Intel's HWBOT Party...(stay tuned for more).

Email if I've missed any critical "survival" tips that should be added to the list above.. If you'd like to meet-up or curious about my focus in Digital Health New Ventures at #mycompany Johnson & Johnson Innovation, shoot me a note.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

About: Cris is the Director of Digital Health Innovation and New Ventures at Johnson and Johnson's Innovation Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was formerly Global Lead of Social Computing and Emerging Technology programs at Novartis Research Institutes. In 2010, De Luca Co-founded the largest monthly venture competition in Boston, NYC and Silicon Valley accelerating 700+ bootstrapped companies. Cris serves on the advisory boards of SXSW Health, AARP Innovation, and Digital Medicine Showcase by EBD Group. He was named 40 Under 40 by the Boston Business Journal and MedTech Boston magazine and ranked by Onalytica amongst the 100 most influential in Digital Health in 2016. Opinions do not necessarily reflect those of employer.