Unlocking the Future of Digital Health at the World Economic Forum

At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025 in Davos, Switzerland, digital healthcare became a central topic as the sector explores new technologies to improve accessibility, scalability and patient outcomes.

Healthcare leaders like Mayo Clinic President and CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia stressed the need for a “digitally first” approach to address longstanding challenges. The World Economic Forum’s Edison Alliance extended access to critical healthcare services for 1 billion people through digital solutions since its launch in 2021. However, the sector still faces the challenge of delivering broad value while balancing privacy and security concerns.

“A healthcare system that is frustrating, and whether instead we can transition to a healthcare system more accessible, scalable and gives better outcomes, to me, is highly dependent on how we deal in becoming digitally first in healthcare,” Farrugia said during a Wednesday (Jan. 22) session titled “Cracking the Code of Digital Health.”

Healthcare must move from a pipeline to a platform model, he said.

“We need to do that by creating defined pathways that are coupled to financing models that allow countries, wherever they are, to know what the next step is, and then to make the choices that allow … patients to have better care, deciding to either partner with somebody else or solution developers to develop solutions or develop their own solutions,” he said. “If we do that and tackle that underlying problem, then not only will patients benefit, but the system itself will continue to self-learn and create truly better outcomes for all.”

The PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Digital Healthcare Gap: Streamlining the Patient Journey” found that two-thirds of consumers use patient portals, particularly millennials and higher-income individuals. Among non-users, 32% expressed interest in using such platforms if available.

The trend extends to older generations, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Digital Platform Promise: What Baby Boomers and Seniors Want From Digital Healthcare Platforms.” It found that 78% of baby boomers and seniors were satisfied with receiving test results online, and 64% engaged in at least one digital healthcare activity in the past year.

Electric vehicles were also a topic of conversation during the forum in a Tuesday (Jan. 21) session called “Getting EV Supply Chains Right.”

Although electric vehicle sales growth in the United States and Europe has slowed, more than 30 million new EVs are projected to hit the road by 2027, according to the description of the session. Manufacturers are working to secure sustainable and reliable supply chains for essential components and materials, as geopolitical tensions rise and production scales up.

“It’s not going to be a one-country effort in terms of EVs,” Pan Jian, co-chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world’s largest EV battery maker, said during the session. “It’s going to be a global effort.”

Digital transformation is crucial for manufacturing companies and other sectors that want to not just withstand disruption but prosper in a turbulent environment over the long term, according to a Monday (Jan. 20) WEF report.

“Research shows that digital transformation can become a catalyst for sustainability and open innovation,” the report said.

Additionally, digital transformation is being positioned as a tool for achieving sustainable goals, such as reducing environmental impact through smart factories and energy-efficient systems. Advanced technologies are also addressing global challenges like climate change and resource management.

Cybersecurity was another theme at WEF as it becomes more advanced and the interconnectedness of global supply chains adds new challenges. Keri Pearlson from MIT and Akshay Joshi from the World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity, discussed the importance of preparing for inevitable cyber incidents and viewing cyber resilience as essential.

“It’s highly likely that if your organization hasn’t experienced a cyber incident, it will at some point in the future, and you don’t want to wait until that incident occurs to then put your cyber crisis communication plan in place,” Pearlson said during a January 13 podcast titled “Global Security Outlook: The Risks We All Face and How to Fight Back.”

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