Will Smart: Delivering real value from digital health investment
We spoke with Will Smart, Chair of the BCS Health and Care Faculty, before his appearance at Rewired 2026. Smart is an influential figure at BCS, the UK’s chartered professional body for individuals working in computing, IT, and digital. He is a digital health veteran and shares his unique perspectives on the pressures and possibilities of leading digital change with us in advance of his panel session.
For those who don’t know, can you give us a bit of background and context about BCS?
We’re here to ensure that digital tools and solutions deliver the impact they can, providing the greatest benefit to society. In a world where AI seems to be the answer to pretty much every question, BCS works with digital leaders and healthcare systems to deliver value from the digital investments. We can achieve this by equipping leaders and their teams with the skills and capabilities that they require to do the job that is being asked for them today and in the future.
We’re seeing a huge investment in new digital solutions like AI. How can we ensure that they deliver value to patients, not just providers?
We need to look beyond tools and technologies to deliver true transformation. There’s never really been a proper recognition at the centre that to truly digitally transform, you need to invest in infrastructure and in the basics. You need to have high-quality networks, high-quality infrastructure, devices, and a data and technical architecture that works. Those organisations that deliver impact are rigorous and deep in the work that they do and the approach they take.
Do you think we place too much trust in technology?
No. We’re in a great place to unlock the benefits of technology, and we can learn from other sectors about how to do this effectively. The problems that we face in health and care are, in many ways, unique, but in other ways they are the same problems that every other industry is facing. The amount of data we’re producing in healthcare, for example, is incredible – we need to find ways to use it more effectively. This is both a technical and a skills challenge.
Your session focuses on professionalisation of digital health. Can you explain what you’ll be covering?
Digital plays a crucial role in the future of the NHS, but we don’t hold our digital professionals in the same regard or to that same professional standards that we would an accountant or a lawyer. In the future, I hope we’ll see that, to be a digital professional, you need to have a professional registration and demonstrate your capability and your competence. This is at all levels, from board level leaders to those just starting out in their careers. Not only will this establish professional standards, but it will also provide a clearer career path for those entering the sector.
What is BCS doing to help upskill the digital health community?
BCS offers a huge range of support, including education and courses on technical skills, such as ethics and AI, and soft skills. Through the Faculty for Health and Care we have created a community of digital health leaders from across all the varying disciplines and parts of the system. We accredit digital staff, giving individuals and their employers confidence that they have the right skills, and can manage the change toward a more digitally engaged health service, delivering technology to improve the quality, safety and outcomes of care.
