Who are we?

Innovation Center Esplanade

With 13,000 collaborators, the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) are a major source of ideas. Convinced that “everyone can make a difference”, the HUG Innovation Center empowers each person, with their professional and personal skills, to become an actor or actress in the joint development of innovative solutions that transform the hospital.

Both a center of expertise and a collaborative workspace, the HUG Innovation Center offers a range of services to bring together, evaluate, implement and promote the innovative ideas and projects of HUG collaborators and structures. A laboratory for experimentation and a catalyst for change and participatory approaches, the Innovation Center contributes to the continuous transformation of the HUG.

Innovation Center Missions

Fostering ideation

The Innovation Center promotes innovation within the HUG by stimulating the ideation and development of ideas into projects, through the collection of ideas, the organization of events, activities and training, and more generally by transmitting a solution-oriented intrapreneurial philosophy.

Catalyzing projects

In an effort to support innovators, the Center for Innovation catalyzes projects through their construction and implementation. It promotes rapid prototyping of the solution, assists in the search for funding and provides support during the research and development (R&D) phase, while facilitating the pooling and optimization of existing resources and stimulating the agile development of the project.

Value-added products

The Innovation Center promotes the products developed at the HUG during their deployment internally or externally. The Unitec Technology and Skills Transfer Office, which is responsible for the technology transfer process, is supported by the Innovation Center to assist innovators in their valorization and business development efforts. The Innovation Center also promotes the solution internally and externally throughout its deployment.

Piloting the digital innovation platform

The Concerto pilot innovation center, the digital innovation platform, which brings together all the applications, functionalities and information for patients before, during and after their treatment at the HUG. He is responsible for the development and deployment of the solution within the HUG and encourages its adoption by the various departments.

Building partnerships

The Innovation Center weaves and maintains partnerships with the University of Geneva, universities, industry and the entire ecosystem of innovation support in Geneva and the “Health Valley” in the Lake Geneva region, to facilitate exchanges and collaborations.

Support the strategic plan Vision 20+5

The programs and projects of the Vision 20+5 strategic plan are supported and catalyzed by the Innovation Center, which provides the infrastructure, resources and support needed to implement them.

As a pioneer in this approach in the European hospital environment, the Center for Innovation has established close ties with the Patients as Partners (PAP) program. The Patients as Partners program promotes exchange between patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals. This close collaboration empowers the Center for Innovation to develop innovative solutions that meet the needs of patients.

Discover the latest activity report of the Innovation Center

Innovation Center Team

A team of experts is available to HUG collaborators:

  • You have an idea, propose it to the Innovation Center, we will accompany you to make it a reality.
  • You have an innovative project, come to the Innovation Center, we will train you in dynamic and interactive tools.
  • If you are looking for partners to help you move your idea or project forward, contact the Innovation Center, we will put you in touch.
  • You have a daily challenge, join the Innovation Center, we will help you find solutions.
  • You have an innovative solution, present it at the Innovation Center, we will value it.

Innovation Center Events

The Innovation Center organizes a wide range of events that welcome HUG collaborators, academic and industrial partners, patient partners and, on dedicated occasions, the general public. Our events aim to:

  • Generate new ideas and innovative new projects.
  • Presenting new technologies and innovative ideas in the field of health
  • Create communities around the same themes
  • Reflecting and discussing the issues of digital health
Last update : 14/08/2025

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