DHI Hosts International Diabetes Federation President for Strategic Digital Health Visit to Scotland
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The two-day visit spotlighted Scotland’s digital health leadership and explored opportunities for global collaboration in diabetes innovation, research and system transformation.
The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) was honoured to host Professor Peter Schwarz, President of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and Armin Scheuer, CEO of Lemonmint, for a two-day strategic visit to Scotland as part of the Digital Maturity Tour 2025 (DMT25).
Coordinated in collaboration with Lemonmint Healthcare Communications, the visit convened senior leaders, clinicians, researchers, and policymakers to explore Scotland’s unique strengths and advances in digital health and data-driven diabetes care, and to examine opportunities for global collaboration to advance innovation, research, and policy.
On day one, hosted at the DHI headquarters in the Glasgow City Innovation District, Professor Schwarz was joined by delegates from across NHS Scotland, Scottish Government, research and industry. Through a series of high-level discussions and expert panels, the visit highlighted Scotland’s leadership in digital maturity, clinical innovation, and patient-centred care. Key themes included the role of national data infrastructure, the importance of empowering people living with diabetes through digital tools, and the conditions required to scale sustainable innovation across health systems. International attendees felt there was much to learn from Scotland, and solutions could be implemented or adapted across the globe.
Day two continued with a series of engagements in Edinburgh, including a meeting at the Scottish Parliament with Emma Harper MSP, Chair of the Cross-Party Group on Diabetes, followed by a visit to the Edinburgh Futures Institute. Here, the delegation met with representatives from Research Data Scotland, Public Health Scotland, Safe Havens, and the University of Edinburgh to discuss the nation’s world-leading data assets and shared ambitions for ethical, secure and accessible use of health data to accelerate research and impact.
Emma Harper, MSP, and Co-convenor for the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Diabetes, shared:
“It was an absolute pleasure to welcome and host the President of the IDF, Professor Peter Schwarz, at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. We had a fantastic discussion, and Peter was very positive and complimentary towards the collaborative approach and actions taking place in Scotland, to support people in our communities who have diabetes, and how the rest of the world can learn from us!”
Janette Hughes, Director of Planning and Performance at DHI, added:
“As diabetes grows in prevalence globally and locally, it was energising to hear how the Scottish innovation ecosystem has developed infrastructures and initiatives that embed digital and data and transform care, but also inspirational to hear from a global perspective how Scotland and DHI could play a part in moving this agenda forward.”
Professor Schwarz’s visit underscores the alignment between Scotland’s innovation-driven approach to diabetes care and IDF’s global mission to improve lives and reduce the burden of diabetes through prevention, research, and policy influence.
Professor Peter Schwarz, President, IDF, commented:
“It’s been a fantastic experience coming to Scotland to learn about best practices in digital diabetes care, including both the challenges faced and the successes achieved. What Scotland is doing aligns closely with the vision and mission of the IDF to improve the quality of care for people living with diabetes. The next step for me is to explore how we can take the valuable insights from DHI and Scotland and translate them into other countries with a strong digital infrastructure.”
Armin Scheuer, CEO, Lemonmint Healthcare Communications, followed:
“Over the past few months, we’ve been on a digital maturity tour across Saudi Arabia, Germany, and now Scotland, in connection with our new book on this topic. Visiting Scotland was a natural step, given its reputation for having one of the most advanced digital health ecosystems in the world. It’s been a valuable opportunity to learn from the people here, and I hope we continue to build on these relationships, with a visit to Germany hopefully on the horizon.”
The visit concluded with a strategic reflection session between IDF and DHI leaders to explore future areas of cooperation, ranging from global research initiatives to joint digital maturity frameworks and knowledge exchange.
Related Output
The event builds on DHI’s contribution to international thought leadership on digital maturity in health and care. A recent chapter, “Readiness and Digital Maturity: Promoting Innovation, Integration, and Scale in Scotland”, authored by Janette Hughes, Michelle Brogan, and Ann Wales, explores how early-stage digital health innovations can transition into integrated solutions within mature healthcare systems. This work informed the development of the Digital Diabetes event in Scotland and reinforces the importance of readiness frameworks in scaling innovation.
Notes:
Day 1 Delegation
Janette Hughes, Director of Planning & Performance, Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI)
Michelle Brogan, Digital Health and Care Innovation Lead, DHI
Dr Petra Wilson, Incoming Chair of DHI
Chaloner Chute, Chief Technology Officer, DHI
Grant Reilly, Head of Communications & Marketing, DHI
Professor Peter Schwarz, President, International Diabetes Federation (IDF)
Armin Scheuer, CEO and Founder, Lemonmint
Dr Robert Lindsay, National Clinical Lead for Diabetes, NHS Scotland
Professor Rory McCrimmon, Diabetes Lead, NHS Research Scotland
Elliott Fulton, Senior Policy Manager, Scottish Government
Laurie Eyles, Professional Advisor, Healthy Weight Team, Scottish Government
Professor Sam Philip, National Clinical Lead and Consultant, NHS Grampian
Dr Abdulaziz Alhomod, Chief Innovation Officer, SEHA Virtual Hospital, Saudi Arabia
Professor Sarah Wild, University of Edinburgh
Suzanne Graham, Head of Innovation Planning CFSD
Arlene Dale, Senior National Diabetes CLS Educator
Debbie Wake, Consultant and Founder of MyWay Digital Health
Jacqueline Walker, Professional Dietetic Lead in Moray and Professional Advisor, Healthy Weight Team, Scottish Government
Tobias Croft, Head of Innovation, Chief Scientist Office
Dr Anke Diehl, Chief Transformation Officer, University Medicine Essen, Germany
Kirsty French, PLWD/ Lived experience perspective
Mark Cook, Chair of Life Sciences Industry Leadership Group
Professor John Petrie, Professor of Diabetes, Scottish Clinical Perspective
Donna Henderson, Head of International Engagement, Scottish Government
Day 2 Delegation
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