Apple will talk up its health tech at Web Summit 2022

Apple VP Health Dr. Sumbul Desai will talk about the company’s approach to digital health technology at Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal.

The connected possibilities of digital health 

The biggest and possibly more influential tech event that isn’t run by Apple, Web Summit is seen as a thought leader’s paradise in which to explore and explain the impact of connected technologies on everyday life.

Apple’s health chief will speak at the event on November 3, where she will discuss “Apple’s bold vision for healthcare”.

The Web Summit schedule describes the session, which is flagged with the hardware and robotics, health, leadership and society categories, as follows:

“Apple VP of health Sumbul Desai is in a unique position at the intersection of health and technology. In this session, Sumbul describes how Apple is utilising the power of tech to revolutionise public health in the 21st century, with innovations in wearables, Apple Watch, iPhone, and iOS.”

What will she discuss?

The most likely dialogue will look at Apple Watch and its proven results in terms of saving lives, identifying health conditions and Apple’s sensor-based approach to health augmentation for humans.

There’s a high probability the doctor may also discuss new health-related features introduced across Apple Watch and iOS, particularly around heart rate notifications, Emergency SOS, temperature sensing and retrospective ovulation estimates.

This will also provide her with the opportunity to discuss the various health-related studies involving the company’s products. Inevitably, there will be a statement concerning privacy and the need to ensure people’s private health data remains private to avoid any form of abuse. That’s going to be of particular concern to women in nations that do not respect female self-determination.

[Also read: How to share Health data and other improvements in iOS]

Building the road, one brick at a time

At present, Apple’s approach is highly augmentative.

It provides users with information and guidance to help them take better health-related decisions but hasn’t yet fully extended itself into more interruptive digital health opportunities around treatment. Of course, providing information of this kind at this level does have a real impact – every Apple Watch wearer that takes better decisions concerning health becomes more likely to avoid debilitating and expensive health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

Given those are among the biggest health challenges while also being responsible for huge chunks of public health spending, any tech that helps mitigate those problems has a major societal impact in terms of controlling costs and improving public health.

Australian health insurer AIA has confirmed that using an Apple Watch is genuinely good for you in terms of promoting physical activity. It says people using an Apple Watch move as much as 51% more than they did before. It will be interesting to find out more when Desai speaks at WebSummit.

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