ISoP Seminar – Intelligent Automation in Pharmacovigilance

Coordinator: Jan Petracek (ISoP Board member)

Is Intelligent Automation a true game changer? This is the question that is likely to be on most industry expert’s minds. Given that the concept of Intelligent Automation is building momentum across other industries, and the prospect of a digital workforce being the new normal, is fast becoming reality.
Pharmacovigilance is full of daily repetitive tasks that are ideal for Intelligent Automation. There are many advantages for companies to adopt the use of this technology, such as, continuity enhancement – in most cases an automated process can cover 24 hours per day. This allows organisations the opportunity for repurposing staff on complex tasks that require in depth analysis and decision making, adding much greater value to the company. It will also strengthen overall job satisfaction, as employees should feel more engaged, working on new and challenging assignments, leading to less staff turnover. In addition, it can reduce time spent recruiting, interviewing and hiring; relieving the additional strain on key subject matter experts having to laboriously train new joiners to the company, and de-creasing the need for overtime hours. All these factors should consequently help to develop a strong stable workforce, by potentially achieving the all-important aspect of a work-life balance. In addition, automation increases quality assurance and compliance for the company, through consistency – the robot will always follow a certain process flow and will not deviate from the specifications, producing a very detailed audit log of all the actions being executed, thus facilitating audit requirements.

In 2017, the International Society of Pharmacovigilance held a thought-provoking seminar – Intelligent Automation in Pharmacovigilance. Offering a unique, highly focused, scientific and interactive two-day event, 30 speakers across the pharma and technology services industry were invited to speak on this hot topic, and the feedback gathered from the attendees at the seminar was very positive. Interesting, engaging and, at times, controversial debates were sparked during the open panel discussions.
One year later, we had the opportunity to share our experiences, challenges, successes and more importantly the lessons learned that we have all encountered so far on our “Intelligent Automation” journey.

The faculty consisted of international experts in pharmacovigilance, representing government, academia, and industry.
The seminar was held in Boston (USA), Massachusetts’ capital. Training certificates of attendance were provided to those who completed the seminar.

The International Society of Pharmacovigilance would like to extend its gratitude to Biogen for hosting the meeting at its premises, and to PrimeVigilance for their organizational support.

Participants at the ISoP Seminar, Boston 4 Dec 2018

Programme

Click here for the final programme.

Meeting Venue

Biogen Building 8, 812 Auditorium (Floor 1)
Access through Biogen Building 9, 300 Binney Street, Cambridge, MA 02142

Accommodation

For your stay in Boston, we recommend the following hotels (walking distance from meeting venue) – rooms subject to availability:

Residence Inn Boston Cambridge
120 Broadway, Six Cambridge Center Cambridge Massachusetts 02142 USA

Boston Marriott Cambridge
50 Broadway, Cambridge Massachusetts 02142 USA