Portugal will have a business school in the health sector. It is being launched by CESPU – Cooperative of Polytechnic and University Higher Education (CESPU) and will be based in Guimarães. The partnership was signed this week and also involves the local municipality.

The CESPU Health Business School will operate in the building of the Verbo Divino Seminary. Other projects within the scope of the University Alliance for Development and Innovation in Health (AUDIS), which brings together the Alto Ave Local Health Unit (ULSAA) and the University of Minho, will operate in this space.

Jornal Económico knows that the project starts with agreements signed with two higher education institutions in Peru and Brazil, with the aim of implementing a Global MBA.

In addition to the CESPU Health Business School, the CESPU Artificial Intelligence and Health Research Unit will also be based there. The University of Minho will contribute with the Associated Laboratory for Intelligent Systems (LASI) and the ALGORITMI Center.

The executive director of the National Health Service (SNS), Álvaro Santos Almeida, present at the ceremony, reinforced the importance of AUDIS for the qualification of SNS professionals and services.

António Almeida-Diaz, president of CESPU, highlighted the project’s “enormous potential” for improving and optimising healthcare in Alto Ave. “The aim is to transfer knowledge between healthcare provision and research, with a focus on technological solutions,” he added.

Artificial intelligence and health data systems are already some of the areas in which both CESPU and the University of Minho, through its School of Engineering, will develop their work. Partnerships with other institutions, such as ISPUP, will also allow for the development of training in areas such as public health, among others.

This strategic project arises within the scope of the “multimodal collaborative ecosystem in health of Alto Ave” plan proposed by the president of the board of directors of ULS Alto Ave, Pedro Cunha.