Shaping the Future of Health Tech: Christine Jacob Named “Digital Shaper 2026”, FHNW School of Business

A national recognition for digital innovation in Switzerland

On March 24, Switzerland celebrated some of its most influential digital innovators at the “Digital Shapers 2026” gala in Zurich. For the eighth year, BILANZ, Handelszeitung, PME, and digitalswitzerland recognised 100 individuals who are actively shaping the country’s digital future. Among them is Dr. Christine Jacob from the Institute of Information Systems at the FHNW School of Business, who was selected in the Health Techies category.

The evening also featured inspiring keynote speeches by Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi and Christoph Aeschlimann, Group CEO of Swisscom, underlining the importance of digital innovation for Switzerland’s future.

A journey built on collaboration

Reflecting on the recognition, Christine emphasises the collective nature of her work:

At the heart of her work is a strong belief in the power of collaboration. She is particularly energised by environments that foster shared purpose and enable meaningful change. Many of today’s healthcare challenges are deeply interconnected and cannot be addressed within the boundaries of a single organisation, discipline, or country. Her work therefore focuses on building bridges between patients, clinicians, healthcare organisations, regulators, insurers, industry, and technology developers, creating spaces for open dialogue, mutual understanding, and co-creation. This collaborative approach is essential to ensuring that digital health solutions are not only innovative, but also relevant, sustainable, and impactful in real-world settings.

Bringing health tech into real-world practice

Christine’s research focuses on one of the most pressing practical challenges in health technology, which is in most cases not the technology itself, but its successful implementation, adoption, and integration into complex healthcare systems. Drawing on her experience in several global pharmaceutical companies, her research takes a practice-oriented and human-centered approach. She explores why some digital health solutions are successfully adopted and sustained in real-world settings, while others fall short.

Her work looks at the social, organisational, and technical factors that influence implementation, working closely with patients, clinicians, and other stakeholders to co-develop solutions that align with real-life needs and clinical workflows. The goal is clear: to move beyond technically functional tools and towards solutions that are trusted, accepted, and used over the long term.

Advancing AI integration in healthcare through co-creation

What keeps her busy at the moment is a project that brings together an expert panel of around 50 specialists in AI in healthcare from diverse backgrounds, stakeholder groups, and geographies. Together, they are co-developing a practical assessment framework to evaluate the real-world readiness and impact of AI applications in healthcare. Beyond technical performance, the framework considers critical aspects such as:

• integration into clinical workflows
• governance and oversight
• scalability and sustainability
• model monitoring
• broader healthcare system implications

Looking ahead

Looking ahead, Christine remains committed to contributing to meaningful, collaborative work that advances digital health in practice. She welcomes opportunities to partner across disciplines and sectors to tackle complex health tech adoption challenges and translate innovation into real-world impact.

By continuing to bring together diverse perspectives and fostering co-creation, her goal is to help shape solutions that are not only technically sound, but also truly embedded in the realities of healthcare systems.