The strap-line for the European Connected Health Campus, 'Delivering Leadership for the development of Connected Health markets and services', begs the questions 'On whose authority?' and 'On what basis of expert knowledge of healthcare delivery?'

The answers are not immediately obvious, firstly because the field of Connected Health is dynamic - evolving with much (highly desirable) space for innovation - and is therefore in large part unpredicatable.

Expert knowledge of past and present conditions are of little guide to the future - not least because much of the investment is designed to 'change the way we do things around here'.

There is some awareness of the need for change (most obviously the unsustainability of current healthcare delivery practice) but the urgency and depth of this is not yet widely understood by all actors.

Those of us who are prepared to admit that much innovative progress is accidental or fortuitous must also be prepared to promote serendipity and to sell within our organisations the value of contributing to the common cause.

Secondly, it must be understood that 'Leadership' in the context of the ECH Campus mission is not owned by some CEO-type person, or even a few self-elected directors.  The ECH Campus is a Community Interest Company and it is from the wide perspectives of its community of Members that the Campus management seeks to nurture and distil useful actions and directions.

This process was most recently evident during the 'Leadership Summit' - the first major event after the ECH Campus launch in March 2009 - and its thoroughly collaborative production of 'A Manifesto for Connected Health'.

This also explains our strategy of pushing for an increasingly large and diverse membership base - it is only amongst interactions and energies informed by a wide range of viewpoints that the precious nuggets of breakthrough innovations will be found.

The 'Leadership' of which we speak is, therefore, not the assertion of some superior wisdom but the more subtle process of encouraging collaboration, mediating dialogue between a wide range of actors, garnering and sharing experiences and developing the underlying infratructure to support this common cause of massive and urgent changes in healthcare delivery.

This in turn is why the 'Manifesto' does not have a direct focus on technological Research and Development but has instead laid the foundations for further work on Governance, Engagement, Procurement and large-scale Implementation of Connected Health in order to better inform and energise a wider range of actors.

It is too early yet to be certain of success - but in these intricate and multi-faceted challenges we know that healthcare actors who are not part of the solution will be part of the problem.  So the Campus, whether physical or virtual, must strive to both champion the bigger picture and openly embrace the widest possible engagement.

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For more information on the European Connected Health Campus, visit www.echcampus.com