The Connected Health & Wellbeing Cluster South Chapter has officially launched with a new regional focus designed to strengthen collaboration across industry, healthcare, academia and government in the south of Ireland. The South Chapter will support innovation, shared learning and practical progress in connected health and wellbeing, building on the national Cluster’s growing momentum.

Connected Health & Wellbeing Cluster South
Chapter – Launch Insights & 2026 Direction

From Innovation Activity to System Impact

The launch of the CHC South Chapter brought together leaders across digital health, MedTech, life sciences, academia and healthcare delivery. Structured feedback and discussion identified three consistent themes.

1.  Structural Barriers to Scale 

• Funding gaps beyond pilot stage
• Procurement and regulatory complexity
• Difficulty accessing decision-makers and deployment environments
• Workforce and capability constraints

Insight: The challenge is not innovation generation — it is navigating the pathway to system adoption.

2.  Demand for Orchestration

Participants expressed strong appetite for:

• A tangible and visible ecosystem
• Cross-sector coordination
• Reduced fragmentation
• Clearer routes to national engagement

Insight: The South Chapter must act as an orchestrator, not simply a convenor.

3.  Practical Enablement & Trust

Members identified the need for:

• Education and capability building
• Networks that lead to action
• Credible intermediation when engaging public health stakeholders

Insight: Trust, navigation support and structured pathways are critical to impact.

What Happens Next

1.  CHC South Roadshow

We are currently establishing dates and venues for a regional CHC South Roadshow across Limerick, Cork and Kerry. These sessions will focus on listening, regional ecosystem mapping and identifying local strengths and priorities to inform our 2026 strategy. Further details will be shared shortly. If you would like to host, suggest a venue, or propose specific topics for discussion, we welcome your input.

Regional engagement sessions in:

• Limerick
• Cork
• Kerry

Purpose: Expand participation, identify regional strengths and inform strategy development.

2.  2026 Strategy Development 

An insight-led 2026 Strategy is now being developed to define the South Chapter’s priorities, workstreams and measurable outcomes. This strategy will be aligned with the National Connected Health & Wellbeing Cluster framework and shaped directly by member input gathered through the launch and upcoming roadshow engagements. A draft framework will be circulated for consultation in the coming months.

Aligned with the National Cluster, this strategy will define:

• Priority workstreams
• Engagement structures
• Measurable outcomes
• Governance framework

3.  Proposed Workstreams (To Be Refined with Members)

Based on launch feedback, we are exploring a structured programme of activity focused on key themes including Funding & Investment Pathways, From Pilot to Scale, Health System Navigation, Education & Workforce Capability, and Living Lab development. These workstreams will be refined in collaboration with members to ensure they reflect real regional needs and deliver practical value.

• Funding & Investment Pathways
• From Pilot to Scale
• Health System Navigation & Procurement
• Education & Workforce Capability
• Living Labs & Deployment Environments
• Regional Visibility & Positioning

4.  Steering Group Formation

To ensure strong regional representation and transparent governance, we will shortly open an expression of interest process to establish a South Chapter Steering Group. The group will include representatives from industry, academia and health services, and will help guide priorities, strategy and programme development. An open expression of interest process will be launched to establish a representative South Chapter Steering Group. Further details on the application process will be shared in the coming weeks.

5.  Stay Connected

A quarterly South Chapter newsletter will provide updates, opportunities and member highlights. The South Chapter newsletter will launch shortly, providing updates on member activity, funding opportunities, upcoming events and alignment with national initiatives. This will serve as a consistent channel to maintain visibility, share progress and highlight opportunities across the regional connected health ecosystem.