On 8 November, medtech leaders came together at the SAMED Captains of Industry Forum to strategise how we as an industry can build back better in what would be considered challenging economic times. Leadership was identified as the single most important aspect to in building a bright future for medtech.
The Captains of our Industry have the opportunity to transform their businesses and industry by taking hold of what is possible, adopting new ways of thinking and channeling innovation throughout the organization to create elevated change. Leaders were challenged to take these insights and see what they could accomplish in the next 100 days.
In his opening address, SAMED Chairperson, Peter Mehlape, reaffirmed his key objectives for SAMED and medtech.
- Elevate SAMED, medtech companies and the value of medtech – framed within the positive stories and life saving / life changing impact our sector has
- Partner with key stakeholders and share a united voice that allows us to co-create our industry and the health sector more broadly
- Drive resolve of public sector debt owed to members in order to secure sector sustainability
- Create and support opportunities for meaningful transformation which build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive sector
These objectives formed part of discussion at the first Captains of Industry Forum and, SAMED Executive Officer, Tanya Vogt provided an update on progress made since the last forum which included:
- Calling on members to share their good news stories
- A ratified composition and objective for a SAMED Marketing Committee who will be tasked with elevating the industry and partnering with stakeholders
- Continued efforts and progress on resolving government debt
- The conceptualization and plan for implementation for a YES alumni portal
- The pending launch of the SAMED data integrity initiative which will provide the tangible data required to drive meaningful exchange and will be useful to participants for benchmarking
Leishen Pillay, Cyber Privacy Leader: Risk Advisory Africa, Deloitte provided an outlook on the risks facing medtech companies as custodians of sensitive personal information. Companies need robust risk mitigation strategies and firm cyber security agreements with third parties to ensure meet the risk of hackers and ransomware within their organisation.
Professor Adrian Saville, Gordon Institute of Business and Science (GIBS) faculty member and owner of investment firm Genera Capital, explored South Africa’s economic circumstance, and mapped prospects for the country and medtech companies. Alongside country prospects, the session shared company cases of transformation through innovation and what this means for competitive strategies in the medtech sector.
“We talk as if we’re Chile, we fear we’re Venezuela and we act as if we’re Argentina. Working within this context, our task in business – and as corporate citizens – is to build brilliant.”
SAMED believes that as individual members and as a collective we have the ability to make the changes we want to see and build a brilliant future for medtech.
We look forward to the next Captains of Industry Forum as we elevate our industry and the Association to new heights with escape velocity.
