The BIOMATDB consortium defined the five main target groups of the project in order to develop its solutions, a biomaterials database and marketplace as well as a label of biocompatibility, with direct consideration of the needs and requirements of their end users. To tailor its solutions, a biomaterials database and marketplace as well as a label of biocompatibility, directly to the needs and requirements of its end users, the BIOMATDB consortium defined the five main target groups of the project. Subsequently, quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews were conducted, following the aim of gaining insights into the requirements of each of the groups.

The BIOMATDB project aims to develop a biomaterials database and marketplace as well as a label of biocompatibility to support the European market for biomaterials and medical devices. To ensure the usefulness of these solutions and thereby ensure their implementation and exploitation, the needs and requirements of all target groups need to be taken into consideration. For this purpose, the BIOMATDB consortium identified the following five target groups:

Researchers

This group includes people working in biomaterials research, such as experts in the area of biomaterials or biomedical engineering, and research institutions. The biomaterials database can be a valuable tool for researchers in this area.

Suppliers

Suppliers of biomaterials, including SMEs, start-ups and industry, are another important target group of the project. Especially SMEs can profit from the biomaterials marketplace by gaining visibility and greater market access by being able to provide detailed information on their products.

Demanders

Demanders of biomaterials include, for example, medical or hospital organisations, health professionals and medical procurement groups. These groups will be able to benefit from the BIOMATDB solutions by gaining a better overview of available information about biomaterials on the European market. This information can support the creation of better treatment opportunities as well as improved quality of service.

Enablers

For the purpose of the project, biomaterials societies, medical technology associations, tissue engineering networks and implantology associations are considered enablers. These groups can facilitate valuable contacts to the other target groups, which by extension can ensure greater exploitation of the BIOMATDB solutions.

Policy makers and investors

This group covers public bodies and administrations, governmental, regulation and standardisation bodies, certifiers, policy stakeholders and policy makers. These groups are considered relevant for several aspects, such as the definition of legal and political barriers, harmonisation of the biomaterials’ domain in European healthcare systems, and investments in biomaterial-related areas.

Stakeholder surveys and interviews

To gather insights into the requirements of all these different groups, the BIOMATDB consortium conducted quantitative surveys as well as qualitative interviews with stakeholders from all target groups. By using the collected information, it will be ensured that the BIOMATDB solutions (the database, the marketplace and the label of biocompatibility) will be tailored exactly to the needs of their end users.

For a wide coverage, BIOMATDB used a multichannel approach to contact stakeholders and ask them to participate in the surveys and interviews. Platforms used for survey distributions were the project website, the consortium organisations’ websites and newsletters, social media channels, emails, events, and individual meetings. Thereby, the consortium was able to gather insights from a wide variety of people.

The questions asked in the surveys and interviews varied for the five different target groups. The main topics covered in the questionnaires were the following:

• Relevant biomaterial-related products
• Knowledge of biomaterials
• Challenges in using a biomaterials-related product
• Usage scenarios of the database
• Needed information about biomaterial products, suppliers and demanders to be covered by the database and marketplace
• Preferences regarding the organisation of information in the BIOMATDB database
• Online sources used for biomaterials research
• Partners for collaborations, customers

While the surveys aimed to gather a general overview of the needs and requirements of each target groups, the qualitative interviews were conducted to get more in-depth insights of individual stakeholders. The information gathered within this task will be used for all further developments of the project, including the definition of requirements and use cases for the database and marketplace, as well as the final development of the BIOMATDB solutions.

Links

www.biomatdb.eu

www.biomaterialmarketplace.com

www.biomaterialdatabase.com

Keywords

Biomaterials, database, marketplace, biocompatibility, stakeholders, target groups, surveys, interviews