After many years of constrained travel, social movement, and large gatherings of people, the Editorial Committee for MedInfo 2023 welcome you to the resumption of our in-person biennial conference in the beautiful harbour city of Sydney, Australia. MedInfo conferences require considerable effort by numerous people, many of whom are volunteers, and our gratitude is extended to all those involved in the organisation of this 19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics. Our community will come together again to showcase our latest research and perspectives, reacquaint with trusted colleagues, and form new professional friendships. MedInfo conferences not only energise those attending but provide a common platform to commence or continue discussions focusing on applied approaches to data, information, knowledge, and wisdom in health and wellness.

The last few years have indeed demonstrated the theme of the conference – The future is accessible. The pandemic highlighted the value of global partnerships, the proficiency of converting laborious manual/analogue processes to an online/digital format for various health transactions, and the flurry of inventive approaches to improving the patient-centric journey and healthcare provider efficiency. It also emphasised the difference in the healthcare system when all its component parts collaborate and work together to deliver patient- and citizen-centric quality care. Finally, it accentuated the growing empowerment of citizens when they feel included in their health and wellness ventures and have access to their data.

During this time, enormous pressure was placed on the discipline of biomedical and health informatics to innovate quickly whilst the healthcare system adapted to the new landscape. Telehealth and remote monitoring were elevated from optional and nice-to-have to essential tools for many countries attempting to support the health outcomes of their citizens residing in urban, rural, and remote locations. Those with chronic disease enjoyed the saved opportunity costs derived from healthcare consultations via teleconferencing methods. Many healthcare providers and citizens like this new connected health landscape and fear the system will revert to its former offerings rather than embrace the future.

Unfortunately, not all countries had the existing infrastructure and could not pivot so quickly, which displayed the negative consequences of the digital divide. Preparing for a digital healthcare ecosystem required multifactorial opportunities – educating and upskilling of current staff, attracting, recruiting and retaining talent in digital health, and creating digital health career pathways. Emergent concerns around data sovereignty required many countries to review their laws and government policies to ensure compliance with privacy and data security obligations. Poorly designed IoT devices available in the healthcare environment reiterated the need for co-design to ensure the user experience was positive and healthcare providers were willing to prescribe them to other citizens. Lastly, digital literacy has become more prominent for both citizens and healthcare providers, and continued effort is required in this area.

The significant leap forward in artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, virtual reality, and genomics holds great hope for future healthcare planning, delivery, management, education, evaluation, and research. These themes feature in the 8–12 July MedInfo 2023 sessions, displaying how these digital approaches will revolutionise the healthcare environment through improved quality health outcomes and reduced potential for error. It is anticipated that attendees at MedInfo 2023 will not only exploit the benefits of these technologies but also collectively identify ways to overcome their associated challenges.

Dr Jen Bichel-Findlay FAIDH CHIA

MedInfo 2023 Editorial Chair