Conclusion of the COVID-19 Emergency Digital Health Task Force

In the Spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic, BML Technology launched the COVID-19 Emergency Digital Health Task Force encompassing professionals from within the Montreal digital health ecosystem. At the time we did not have a clear mission, but we understood that at this moment of crisis we could help our healthcare systems, communities and organizations in need.  

We mobilized and collaborated to help improve things, all of us motivated to impact the field in a positive way. The experience illustrated that our community is strong, dedicated, and ready to collaborate to improve health technology development and healthcare delivery in Canada.  

We set out with a relatively broad mandate to leverage our networks, knowledge and experience, and to combine forces to help in any way that we could in a moment of crisis. Even though the crisis has not yet passed, today we look back and are pleased that the Task Force contributed positively to the efforts to combat COVID-19 in several ways.

We helped the pan-Canadian test swab initiative led by the NRC-IRAP and supported by ISED Canada to find clinical leaders for their much needed validation; we helped a few local companies develop their technologies for eventual use in viable clinical applications; we contributed to the efforts of the Canadian government to support made-in-Canada solutions through projects led by ISED and NGEN Canada; we helped Health Canada to support technologies to combat and manage the virus, and in their mission to develop long overdue medical device regulatory innovation.

We also delivered valuable education and shared critical information to the health tech community and the general public; and we served to connect stakeholders to foster innovation and partnerships that will persist long after the pandemic fades from the news cycle.

Until now there has been significant progress. The ongoing Canadian vaccination campaign is bringing the gradual reopening of society and return to normal life, and the greatly needed stabilization of the healthcare system. 

We have concluded the activities of the COVID-19 Emergency Digital Health Task Force as of July 23rd 2021, but there is still work to be done. We applaud and encourage those who remain on the front lines as they continue to help Canadians in need.

We sincerely thank all that were involved for your time, energy and contributions during the pandemic and for your action when it was needed most. We would like you to know that each of you has inspired us. We are sure that you were, as we were as well to some degree, not sure exactly what we were going to do or how we were going to do it. Still, most of you came to every meeting, answered every email, and did your best to contribute regularly, even though there was no inherent promise of any return on your investment.

We look forward to collaborating again in the future. We wish you, your families and all Canadians the best of health and wellness.


BML Technology 

BML Technology understands digital health. At the intersection of medical technology, clinical research and patient-centric healthcare BML drives the mainstream adoption of digital technology in healthcare. Offering a full range of services to the digital health ecosystem BML manages the complex stakeholder interactions necessary to get digital health solutions to market and gain adoption.

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BML Health

At the intersection of medical technology, clinical research and patient-centric health care, we manage the complex stakeholder interactions necessary to get digital health solutions to market and gain adoption.