Co-Creation of Digital Health Solutions Workshop 2026
Co-Creation of Digital Health Solutions Workshop 2026
Dates: Thursday, November 12, 2026, 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, November 13, 2026, 8:45 a.m. to 4:25 p.m.
Venue: Mila Agora, 6650 Saint-Urbain Street, Montreal
In collaboration with: the Pôle de santé publique, the Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), Mila, Université de Montréal and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC)
On November 12 and 13, 2026, the Digital Health Network (RSN) is holding a free, non-competitive co-creation workshop. Students from all disciplines and partner patients and citizens work in teams on a real digital health question, chosen together from a lived situation.
The workshop starts from a person, not a technology. On Thursday morning, each partner citizen presents their situation in one minute, and teams form around these situations. No competition and no code to deliver: each team leaves with a roadmap, a mock-up and a plain-language visual.
On the agenda: two panels (governance, ethics and access to health data; from project to lasting solution), thematic tables and three mentored workshops.
Who is it for?
- Partner patients and citizens
- Students in health, public health, nursing, pharmacy and kinesiology
- Students in data, statistics, computer science and artificial intelligence
- Students in design, arts and communication
- Students in social sciences, urban planning, environment and law
No programming knowledge is required. There is no need to register as a team: teams form on site on Thursday morning.
Practical information
- Free, meals included. Registration until November 6, 2026. Space is limited.
- Compensation for partner patients and citizens: $250 per day of attendance, up to $500 for both days.
- Help with travel and accommodation costs, upon presentation of receipts, based on travel time to Montreal. Maximum amounts for both days:
- students: $200 for 1.5 to 3.5 hours of travel, $350 beyond 3.5 hours;
- partner patients and citizens: $300 for 1.5 to 3.5 hours of travel, $450 beyond 3.5 hours.
- Language: the workshop is held in French. A good understanding of French is required. At the tables, discussions can take place in French or English.
All the details are on the event page.
Program
Preliminary program, subject to change.
Day 1: Thursday, November 12
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:45 a.m. | Welcome and coffee Pick up your badge and grab a coffee. |
| 9:30 a.m. | Opening remarks Welcome by the RSN and a partner citizen. Presentation of the three deliverables and of how the two days will unfold. |
| 9:45 a.m. | Team formation and open table Each partner citizen presents, in one minute, the lived situation they wish to share. Teams form around these situations. |
| 10:45 a.m. | Break |
| 11:00 a.m. | Panel 1. Governance, ethics and access to health data Three complementary perspectives (ethics, data law and governance, data access), based on a fictional case. Interactive panel, no presentations. |
| 11:45 a.m. | First ideas in teams Each team writes down two or three ideas: “What if we helped [whom] to [do what] with [which tool or data]?” |
| 12:05 p.m. | Lunch |
| 1:20 p.m. | Workshop 1. Choosing and framing the question Choose an idea, frame it as a question, then check that it is precise, feasible in two days and linked to data. |
| 2:50 p.m. | Break |
| 3:05 p.m. | Thematic tables Five tables in parallel: datasets, which method for which question, getting through an ethics committee, science communication and design, social acceptability and public health. Two 20-minute rounds. |
| 3:45 p.m. | Launch of the three streams Each team splits up between the roadmap, the mock-up and the visual. |
| 4:25 p.m. | Walls of questions, needs and offers Each team presents its question in 90 seconds. The room responds in writing. |
| 5:00 p.m. | End of day one |
Day 2: Friday, November 13
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:45 a.m. | Coffee and gallery The walls from the previous day stay up. Read the notes left on your team’s question. |
| 9:10 a.m. | Framing the day |
| 9:25 a.m. | Workshop 2. Feasibility What is needed, what exists, what is blocking, what we don’t know yet. Mentors in methods, knowledge transfer and partnerships move between the tables. |
| 10:55 a.m. | Break |
| 11:10 a.m. | Panel 2. From project to lasting solution Three complementary perspectives (implementation science, supporting innovation through to deployment, clinical practice) on moving from a research result to a tool that is actually used. |
| 11:55 a.m. | Lunch |
| 1:10 p.m. | Workshop 3, part 1. Produce Each stream moves forward with its mentors. By 2 p.m., each stream has a draft to show. |
| 2:00 p.m. | Break |
| 2:15 p.m. | Critical friends, then workshop 3, part 2. Finalize Two teams swap drafts, then 40 minutes to finalize the three deliverables. |
| 3:25 p.m. | Deliverables fair Each team presents its deliverables and visits those of the other teams. |
| 4:05 p.m. | Closing remarks Next steps and follow-up offered by the RSN. |
| 4:25 p.m. | Informal drinks (optional) |
Questions: rsn.central@rimuhc.ca
Our partners
This workshop is organized by the Digital Health Network (RSN), in collaboration with the Pôle de santé publique, the Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), Mila, Université de Montréal and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), with the support of the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ).
