The mHealth Grand Tour is a cycle ride with a difference. Going from Brussels to Barcelona in just 13 days, it is 2,100km long with more than 22,000 meters of climbs. However, it isn’t just a bike ride – it is also the opportunity to help demonstrate innovative solutions to the challenges of managing diabetes. The Grand Tour is bringing the mobile and healthcare industries together with the diabetes community to raise awareness of diabetes and promote the development and delivery of mHealth solutions. The riders will take off from Parc Cinquantenaire in Brussels on 5th September 2013 during the Mobile 360 Europe event and arrive in Barcelona, the Mobile World Capital, in time for a charity event on 18th September.
The first and foremost objective is to raise awareness of diabetes and the possibilities for people living with the disease. According to Phil Southerland, co-founder and CEO of Team Novo Nordisk, “When diagnosed with diabetes, many people think that it means they won’t be able to live a normal life and realise their dreams. As an all-diabetes sports team, Team Novo Nordisk shows that, with good blood glucose control, anything is possible and the mHealth Grand Tour is an excellent opportunity to educate, empower and inspire more people.”
The tour also aims to mobilise the GSMA ecosystem to address the global challenge, collaborating with partners to showcase mobile health solutions that are on the market now and ready for large-scale deployment, and in so doing, create a new cross-industry channel for mHealth.
Orange will be the official connectivity partner for the ride, providing services that will capture, store and securely share patient health records during the ride, spanning five European markets. ANT+ will be the official technology partner and use its ultra-low power wireless technology to provide rider performance data and enable biometric statistics to be captured and shared via ANT+ partner devices and ANT+ enabled smartphones.
To date, there are 82 riders registered for the Grand Tour, cycling anything from one to all four stages through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France and Spain (somewhat fondly known as The Epic). Some are cycling as individuals, some representing their companies and some are riding for their local diabetes organisations. People still interested in taking part or companies wishing to sponsor a team should visit the Web site now.
There are also two official patient teams taking part. Riders from Team Novo Nordisk’s development team, all of whom are living with type 1 diabetes, will participate alongside Team Blood Glucose (TeamBG), a not-for-profit social enterprise that aims to inspire people with diabetes to achieve their sports and exercise goals. We’ll shortly be able to update you on the mHealth trials to which they’ll be contributing during the ride.
If you would like your company to be involved, please contact Peter Montgomery, who can tell you about the partnership options.
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