Pressure on Dutch healthcare is mounting: more patients, more complex care needs, and a shrinking pool of healthcare professionals. To keep good care accessible and affordable, healthcare needs to be organised differently. On Thursday 5 November 2026, the TechMed Centre at the University of Twente will host the eighth edition of the TechMed Event. This year's central theme is ‘The Hospital of the Future: towards a tenfold increase in healthcare productivity’. The event looks at how technology, innovation and smart forms of organisation can dramatically expand healthcare capacity without losing sight of quality of care.
Care closer to the patient
Hospitals aren't going anywhere: for surgery, acute care and complex treatments, they remain indispensable. But not every check-up, measurement or step in recovery needs to happen within those walls. Smart sensors, remote monitoring and digital care solutions make it possible to organise a growing share of care closer to the patient: at home, in the community or digitally. The Hospital of the Future is therefore less about the building itself, and more about the question of which care belongs where. That is exactly the question at the heart of the TechMed Event.
- Date: 5 November 2026
- Time: 9.30 - 17.15
- Language: English
- Location: TechMed Centre, on the campus of the University of Twente
Hallenweg 5, Enschede (NL) | View the visitor information
The programme
The programme combines a plenary programme with nine inspiration sessions. The day opens with the essentials: the urgency behind the Hospital of the Future, explored from different perspectives and with an active role for the audience. It closes with an interactive keynote from AI expert Hendrik van Zwol. Between the plenary sessions, visitors can build their own programme from an inspiring line-up of breakout sessions covering topics such as AI and data-driven care, healthcare robotics, medical imaging and oncology screening, care beyond hospital walls, personalised treatment technologies, international MedTech collaboration, the MedTech Twente NextGen Final, and the cross-pollination between defence and healthcare.
Tracks
Plenary programme
Inspiration Sessions
MedTech Innovation Forum
Experience the full arc of the day, from urgency to action, in one shared, interactive plenary programme.
Get inspired by forward-looking talks and discussions, running in parallel tracks throughout the day.
Experience, connect and network in a hands-on setting of workshops and live demos bringing the future of healthcare to life.
Get involved
Organisation
University of Twente - TechMed Centre
The TechMed Centre is a leading innovation hub that drives impact on healthcare through cutting-edge research, education, and innovation. With state-of-the-art facilities—ranging from advanced laboratories and preclinical testbeds to realistic simulated hospital environments—the centre accelerates technological advancements that transform healthcare. We believe that developing, evaluating, and implementing technology responsibly is key to achieving sustainable and personalised health for all. By fostering entrepreneurship and supporting new and growing companies within our regional ecosystem, the TechMed Centre creates a collaborative environment where experts from healthcare, biomedical technology, and government sectors join forces to make a lasting societal impact.
The Hospital of the Future initiative
The Hospital of the Future is an initiative of the University of Twente (UT), Medisch Spectrum Twente (MST), FME and Twente Board, bringing together knowledge institutions, healthcare partners and businesses. Through the use of medical technology, they are developing the hospital of the future so that, despite staff shortages, good care can continue to be delivered.
