Deloitte's Life Sciences and Healthcare Predictions 2030 envision a future where individuals are empowered to manage their own health, with technology playing a central role in delivering patient-centric care.¹ Realising this vision necessitates a radical shift in the core technology architectures supporting today’s life sciences organisations. In this blog, we will explore two of the predictions, and outline the technology shifts and technology building blocks that leaders will need to implement to realise them:

1. The rise of a dynamic consumer health market, and
2. Realising the potential of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT).

Deloitte’s Technology Strategy Framework serves as a guide for organisations to align technology with business goals via three core elements: Ambition & investment (strategic direction), operating model (operational efficiency), and technology landscape (technology alignment) as shown in Figure 1 below. While this blog focuses on the changes expected for the technology landscape pillar and its building blocks, leaders should also consider the remaining pillars as integral to the overall technology strategy.

The rise of a dynamic consumer health market

By 2030, the consumer health (CH) industry is predicted to thrive by promoting well-being and extending healthy lifespans using personalised, science-backed solutions.² Companies will leverage genetic, behavioural, and healthcare data to create custom ised products and services for nutrition, sleep, fitness, and mental well-being. Technology such as AI, wearables, and self-care platforms will empower individuals to actively manage their health, while real-time feedback loops will enable continuous innovation. The design of consumer health products will increasingly integrate social value, prioritising health equity and environmental sustainability.

What technology building blocks should be in place for the prediction to be realised?

1. Systems that use and share data seamlessly: The future of proactive healthcare depends on breaking down data silos, creating unified views of individuals health data. This will require the adoption of standardised data formats like HL7 FHIR, to facilitate seamless interoperability of information sourced from lifestyle trackers, electronic health records (EHRs), and insurance systems.³  By developing robust API frameworks, secure data exchange will be enabled, while advanced patient identity management systems will be needed to ensure precise data linkage and deduplication. These capabilities collectively will support creation of the comprehensive patient profile needed for more informed and personalised healthcare delivery.
2. Robust and scalable technology infrastructure: As wearables proliferate and health data volumes grow, CH companies will need their technology backbone to scale accordingly. This will require embracing the elastic capabilities offered by cloud-native architectures, whilst leveraging edge computing to process data closer to source. Designing distributed systems that can efficiently process and analyse data at scale will also be paramount. These systems will be underpinned by advanced data storage solutions and high-performance networks, both crucial for securely managing the vast and complex datasets.
3. AI-driven personalisation and predictive capabilities: Hyper-personalisation, powered by sophisticated AI models and machine learning, will play a pivotal role in analysing and transforming raw health data into actionable, individualised insights and proactive interventions. Developed using the high-performance computing resources and deployed through the new capabilities provided by scalable cloud platforms, these hyper-personalised models can be embedded into products and services, from AI-designed meal plans based on genetic predispositions and real-time glucose levels, to dynamic sleep support apps. Furthermore, conversational AI, enhanced through emerging natural language processing (NLP) tools, will help increase accessibility of these technologies.
4. Seamless and ethical digital engagement: Seamless consumer engagement will leverage AI-driven conversational interfaces, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, with integrated communication channels spanning mobile apps, web portals, and metaverse platforms. The personalisation algorithms and recommendation engines that tailor these health interventions will be grounded in ethical and transparent data use that’s verifiable, explainable, unbiased, and compliant with regulations like GDPR and emerging frameworks for medical devices and AI. Immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) can be implemented to further enhance these personalised experiences.

Realising the potential of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) encompasses the rapid growth of connected medical devices, wearables and remote monitoring technology that collect health data beyond traditional healthcare settings. By 2030, advances in digitisation and connectivity will act as a ‘force multiplier’, providing real-time, precise, and interoperable data from these technologies that can reshape the healthcare delivery model. This technological shift also extends upstream of these devices, enabling MedTech companies to develop smart factories which integrate AI and predictive analytics to improve efficiency, inventory management, and supply chain resilience. Additionally, these connected devices also facilitate innovative, digital-first business models that capture value, whilst supporting ESG goals through the use of eco-friendly materials and promoting device reuse and recycling to foster a circular economy.

What technology building blocks should be in place for the prediction to be realised?

1. Ensuring trust and secure access to data: IoMT introduces significant cybersecurity challenges due to the expansion of connected endpoints requiring built-in security capability. Lifesciences and healthcare organisations will need to develop comprehensive device management platforms that can monitor these devices for vulnerabilities, deploying security patches and enforcing security policies across the device lifecycle. Zero-trust network architectures to authenticate and authorise every device connection will be needed to protect patient data and maintain system integrity.
2. Immersive technologies for enhanced interaction: Immersive technologies, along with intuitive interfaces, integrated with IoMT devices, will play a vital role in supporting real-time collaboration while improving diagnostic precision and empowering patients to self-manage their health effectively.
3. Powerful data processing at the edge: The real-time processing of the large volumes of data generated by the growing number of connected medical devices in the IoMT will require edge computing capabilities. To manage latency, bandwidth consumption, and ensure time-sensitive intervention from device data, organisations will need to design distributed computing environments that can perform the necessary preliminary filtering and analysis before transmitting to centralised systems.
4. Sustainable circular economy: To address the environmental challenges and opportunities posed by the expansion of these devices, organisations will need to develop technology platforms to support the circular economy principles across the device lifecycle. This will include asset tracking systems that monitor properties such as utilisation, condition and location. Digital product passports will be vital to ensure information such as repair history is captured. These capabilities will not only benefit environmental and operational costs but will also address growing regulatory requirements and extended producer responsibilities (EPRs).

Charting the path forward

Our 2030 predictions imagining the future of consumer health, powered by IoMT, provides promise of a personalised, proactive and connected health ecosystem. The technology building blocks outlined above represent non-negotiable investments for organisations seeking to achieve this vision. However, realising this transformation will not only depend on changes in the technology we deploy; it will also demand a shift in how we organise to deliver technology, a stronger focus on ecosystem partnerships, and a clear prioritisation of investment. We believe those who begin building this foundation today, will be best positioned to deliver on the promise of the predictions for 2030 and beyond.

Acknowledgements

With thanks to Tom Wilmott, Ryan Obeid, Kieran Connell and Audrey Twesigye for their contributions to this blog.

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