Istanbul to host IHE Connectathon 2013

Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise Europe (IHE-Europe) is to hold its annual interoperability testing event in Istanbul next year.

The next IHE Connectathon will take place from 15-19 April at the Halic Congress Centre in the Turkish city, with the theme “connect where the continent meets.”

The organisers of Connectathon 2013 hope that moving it to the edge of Europe will attract new participants from the Middle East.

Turkey is one of the organisation’s newest members. But IHE-Europe vendor co-chair, Lapo Bertini, said it was also one of the most active. “We can count on our colleagues to create a rich and rewarding event for everyone.”

The five day event will give companies implementing IHE technical framework specifications within their products the chance to test them with systems and products from other vendors in a real-time interoperability environment.

Haluk Celikel, IHE-Turkey vendor co-chair said: “Hosting the European Connectathon is both an honour and a tremendous opportunity for advancing interoperability in our country as well as demonstrating its benefits to the world.”

Last year’s gathering in Bern, Switzerland had a record-breaking attendance of 520 participants and 85 companies. Over five days, they completed 2,800 interoperability tests among 120 medical information systems.

The results of the Connectathons are published on the IHE-Europe website. Participating vendors may refer to the IHE Integration Statements to show compliance of their products with IHE Integration Profiles.