Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, one of the three chambers operating under Dubai Chambers, hosted the ninth session of its regular digital industry workshops, focusing on the healthtech industry.

The workshop brought together some of the brightest and most driven healthtech industry leaders to explore opportunities and challenges in this critical market.

In his opening remarks, HE Ahmad Bin Byat, Vice Chairman, Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy, highlighted the emergence of Dubai as a leading healthtech hub with abundant opportunities. He said: “Dubai has positioned itself as a healthtech center for both international investors and medical tourists by emphasizing the role of cutting-edge technology advancements in healthcare, and innovative digital health solutions in creating a world class healthcare ecosystem that will cement Dubai’s position as a leading digital health hub.”

Dubai’s healthcare market is worth more than US$4.63 billion annually and is expected to play a pivotal role in catapulting MENA’s healthcare sector growth to US$243 billion this year. National strategies including aggressive AI investment have positioned Dubai as a leader in healthcare AI and tech regionally.

Ahmad Bin Byat added: “The emirate has a remarkable high-tech medical infrastructure and hosts a rising number of public and private healthcare companies, including globally renowned hospitals, outpatient medical centres and diagnostic laboratories. This has made the emirate a global healthcare and healthtech hub as well as a medical tourist destination.”

According to a report by the Dubai Healthcare City Authority, the MENA’s healthtech startup ecosystem is currently valued at over US$1.5 billion, a 22x increase since 2016. Participants discussed indicators of healthtech growth which give rise to key trends and new investment opportunities in this market such as AI investment opportunities in health in line with global trends in addition to growth in demand for healthcare software development.

For instance, the Internet of Medical Things will transform the way healthcare providers and patients interact and this in turn will result in new opportunities for manufacturers and suppliers to invest in connected healthcare technologies and services. Furthermore, with Dubai’s much more refined data-centric approach to most economic sectors including healthcare, Big Data will drive a significant part of healthcare investments in the coming years.

Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy works with stakeholders across all digital sectors to promote innovation, collaboration, and growth in the digital economy.