DaTSHealth: Awareness
Rapid advances in digital health sciences and technologies are transforming medical practices and health management today, both at the individual and collective levels. They are reshaping the care pathway: diagnosis, treatment, management, follow-up, and prevention, while raising important organizational, governance, and ethical challenges.
This evolution requires the acquisition of new skills, for patients and healthcare professionals alike, as well as for institutional and private stakeholders active in the health sector.
It is in this context that the Awareness pillar of the DaTSHealth project was designed. Its aim is to support the general public—particularly middle school, high school, and university students, as well as citizens more broadly—in understanding, adopting, and responsibly using digital health technologies.
Key initiatives include:
- Digital health immersion days
- Educational workshops
- Lectures
- Workshops
Lectures: “Digital Health: Dialogue Between Medicine, Engineering, and Society”
The film-debate lectures create a space for reflection on digital health innovations. The film serves as a starting point, presenting a technology that evokes hope, fear, and questions, and invites participants to consider how digital tools are transforming medical practices and societies.
The session continues with a roundtable discussion bringing together experts from diverse backgrounds to provide a comprehensive and complementary perspective on the challenges of digital health. Each participant shares their insights on digital health: the scientific feasibility of innovations, clinical relevance for patients and healthcare professionals, and sociological, political, and economic impacts. These discussions aim to foster a broader understanding of the role of digital technologies in contemporary and future healthcare.
The first session took place at LIPPS alongside World Mental Health Day and focused on the links between neuro-engineering, psychiatry, and social sciences. The film Black Mirror: “Chute Libre” served as the starting point for the discussion led by Nabila Sadli, exploring both the promises and potential pitfalls of digital technologies.
The discussion began with Nesma Houmani, who provided a scientific perspective on the technologies depicted in the film, distinguishing fiction from current realities. She specifically addressed neurotechnologies and the use of physiological signals, such as EEG, to analyze brain activity and better understand certain neurological disorders.
Guy Gozlan then discussed clinical practice in psychiatry, questioning the contribution of digital tools to patient diagnosis and monitoring. He presented digital phenotyping, based on predictive indicators and scores, while highlighting the challenges related to their validation and integration into medical practice.
Finally, Thomas Lindemann broadened the discussion by examining the social and political consequences of algorithmic thinking, particularly through the search for patterns and regularities, and their potential effects on social and international dynamics.
This first session illustrated the value of interdisciplinary dialogue in better understanding the transformations brought about by digital health technologies and in developing a critical perspective on media and technological representations.
Digital Health Immersion Days
On January 22 and April 16, a total of 49 middle school students — 25 in 8th grade and 24 in 9th grade — took part in a full-day immersive program on digital health at Télécom SudParis. The initiative was part of DaTSHealth's outreach program, aimed at raising awareness of emerging careers and innovations in this rapidly evolving field.
The day began with an introductory session giving students a broad overview of digital health, highlighting its key applications and the wide range of career opportunities linked to cutting-edge technologies.
Students then toured Télécom SudParis's Living Lab, where hands-on demonstrations showcased digital health solutions in action. Among the highlights was a sensor-equipped smart floor system capable of analyzing gait and detecting falls in older adults. They also explored a fully equipped experimental apartment designed to help elderly individuals maintain their independence longer through assistive and monitoring technologies. The visit further included a presentation of an interactive robot used to support communication, social interaction, and learning among children on the autism spectrum.
Following the tour, students had the opportunity to meet with two researchers, who shared insights into their work and answered questions. These discussions offered a closer look at the realities of research, the skills involved, and the diverse pathways available within the fields of technology and healthcare.
The day wrapped up with an open group discussion, giving students a chance to reflect on their experience in a relaxed setting.
Special thanks to the organization Les Partenariats de l'Excellence, as well as to everyone who contributed to the planning and success of these two enriching days.
On December 3, 2025, the DaTSHealth awareness program organized an exploration day dedicated to digital health at École Polytechnique, specifically for female high school students.
The day gave participants the opportunity to explore key sites of research and innovation, as well as the diversity of stakeholders involved in the development of digital health technologies. Throughout the meetings, they were able to understand how scientific, medical, and technological approaches complement each other in this rapidly evolving field.
The day began at the X-Novation Center, with an introductory presentation outlining the major challenges of digital health and providing an overview of the environments and actors they would encounter throughout the day. Participants then explored several campus spaces dedicated to innovation.
Visits to the Living Lab and X-Fab provided insights into the tools and platforms used in innovative projects, particularly in prototyping and digital fabrication. Examples of projects from incubated startups, including Sensome, illustrated how research translates into concrete health applications.
The day continued with an immersion at the LadHyX laboratory, where researchers shared their career paths and experiences, highlighting the connections between academic research and innovation.
Back at the X-Novation Center, a session focused on biomedical engineering applications, particularly involving sensors and signal processing, showcased solutions developed by innovation actors, including the startup PhylIng.
On April 16, 2025, Institut Polytechnique de Paris welcomed a group of middle and high school students for an immersive journey into digital health innovation.
This initiative, organized by the interdisciplinary Engineering for Health (E4H) center in collaboration with IP Paris’s Equal Opportunities Center, aimed to introduce students to the challenges of digital transformation in healthcare and raise awareness of the many future careers it creates.
Ateliers pédagogiques
As part of the National Cordées de la Réussite Day, Télécom SudParis hosted a digital health awareness event organized by the DaTSHealth program on February 5, 2026. The initiative introduced students to the field of digital health, the careers it offers, and the technologies currently transforming healthcare. A total of 108 students participated, from three ninth-grade classes and one final-year class.
The workshops were divided into two parts. The first part provided an overview of digital health, covering its challenges, applications, and ongoing developments. Students gained a better understanding of how digital technologies are being used today in healthcare, research, and innovation—beyond the traditionally known healthcare professions.
The second part focused specifically on neuroengineering. Through a presentation and a demonstration of an EEG device, students learned how these technologies work and their applications in healthcare.
The day concluded with a networking cocktail, allowing students and presenters to interact informally and discuss what they had learned.
As part of its digital health awareness initiatives, the DaTSHealth program at Institut Polytechnique de Paris organized four educational workshops at the International High School of Palaiseau (LIPPS), bringing together students from four senior-year classes. The workshops took place on December 9–10 and January 5–7, in an environment designed to encourage exchange and discovery.
Led by members of the interdisciplinary Engineering for Health (E4H) center, these sessions aimed to spark students’ interest in digital health and provide a first-hand understanding of the human, medical, and technological challenges associated with the digital transformation of the healthcare sector.
- A First Immersion into Tomorrow’s Challenges
Throughout the workshops, students explored the key issues of digital health in ways connected to their everyday lives and concerns. The discussions created a space for reflection on topics such as the role of the patient, the evolution of healthcare practices, the use of digital technologies, and the impact of innovation on health systems.
By encouraging expression and dialogue, the workshops offered students an initial immersion into a rapidly evolving field at the intersection of health, digital technology, and engineering. This initiative helps prepare future citizens, patients, and professionals to better understand the challenges of tomorrow’s healthcare and to consider educational paths and careers related to these transformations.
The hybridization of intelligences is transforming the healthcare field. It is creating an ecosystem where human intelligence (doctors, patients), artificial intelligence (expert systems, algorithms), and collective intelligence (patient networks, scientific communities) interact and enrich each other.
As part of the Science Festival organized by École Polytechnique on October 3–4, the DaTSHealth awareness program participated in the event with a booth dedicated to digital health, welcoming middle school and high school students as well as the general public.
Led by faculty members, PhD students, and postdocs, the booth featured several science outreach activities. Educational posters, designed in a simple and accessible format, presented the major challenges of digital health and the disciplines involved. An electroencephalography (EEG) headset provided a concrete demonstration of brain activity measurement and the use of health data.
The microscope served as a key entry point for discussions with students. Often associated with biology, it allowed the introduction of another aspect of microscopy: computational imaging. Through presentations by Yannick Gotman and Guillaume Graciani, participants explored the role of mathematics, physics, information processing, and artificial intelligence in reconstructing and enhancing medical images.
At the invitation of Robert Doisneau High School in Corbeil-Essonnes, we participated in a day of scientific roundtables on February 13, 2024. The event brought together speakers from multiple fields—health, applied mathematics, computer science, aeronautics, and engineering—to give students a concrete understanding of the variety of academic paths and careers related to science.
The students, who participated on a voluntary basis, were highly engaged and curious. We represented the field of digital health engineering. Our presentation aimed to introduce academic pathways and career opportunities in this area, while emphasizing the importance of developing interdisciplinary skills at the intersection of digital sciences, medicine, and the humanities to meet current and future healthcare challenges.
Discussions took place in small groups of 5 to 8 students, following a format designed to encourage dialogue and close interaction. This approach allowed us to answer their many questions and engage in a meaningful conversation about digital health engineering and the associated educational programs.
During the Science Festival at Institut Polytechnique de Paris in October 2024, engineering faculty members led a public session on digital health technologies. The presentation highlighted the EVIDENT platform (Télécom SudParis), showcasing some of the equipment and devices it hosts.
Among them, the NAO V4 robot proved particularly popular, especially with children, who were able to interact with it directly. This experience sparked curiosity and excitement about interactive robotics and its potential applications in healthcare.
Workshops
Future Events