Keynote 1 - Spyros Kotoulas

Artificial Intelligence in the service of citizens’ care 

Abstract: Attaining the highest possible health standard is a fundamental human right. At the same time, healthcare and social care systems are under immense pressure to provide better services with limited resources. Designing efficient, fair and democratic health systems that serve the needs of citizens is a huge challenge, since outcomes are dictated by more than medical care alone. In fact, socioeconomic, environmental and behavioural factors have a higher impact on individual health than healthcare and genetics. In this light, delivering effective care implies a holistic understanding of the citizens and the environment. The delivery of care relies on information coming from systems of record (e.g. EMRs), information collected by professionals (e.g. assessments), information about the environment and the social context and information collected by IoT devices, as well as a vast corpus of knowledge from the medical and social care domains. Artificial Intelligence transforms health and social solutions from data storage and workflow engines to intelligent systems working together with care teams. We will illustrate with some technology to help professionals capture the right information and make the best decisions and outline practical examples where the Semantic Web, Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing come together to solve pressing problems.