Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1300177
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 OCTOBER 2020 13 The Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co announces collaboration with Malta Tourism Authority WHILE celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2020 The Defin- itive(ly) Good Guide, like any other business, has been navi- gating the turbulent waters ex- perienced this year, however it is looking to emerge exceeding even its previously exceptional standards. Due to the situation in 2020 Lisa Grech, Managing Direc- tor of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide has announced that the annual restaurant survey this September will not be held and will be postponed to 2021. This means that this year, also, there will be no annual restaurants awards ceremony or published guide book and this will give all restaurants the opportunity to get back on their feet. How- ever, it will be back in 2021 better and stronger thanks to the support of dedicated, loy- al sponsors and the additional collaboration with The Malta Tourism Authority. The collaboration with Malta Tourism Authority will see the 2022 edition of the restaurant guide feature, in addition to its top survey rated award win- ning restaurants, those that in addition to The Definitive(ly) Good Guide award have re- ceived the Quality Assured la- bel. Lisa Grech, the Managing Director of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co says "As al- ways, the guide's aim is to lead diners to the best restaurants on the islands and at the same time incentivise restaurants to keep raising their stand- ards. This new arrangement will now include both systems which complement each other ensuring that diners are always as informed as possible about their choice of restaurant. We are very excited to welcome the MTA's Quality Assured on board". COMMERCIAL EU Open for Business 2020 – a Maltese success story IN the health sector, business development is not just about innovation, but also saving lives. While R&D starts at a small scale, what does it take to bring medical devices to the public? The Maltese medical devices company BrainTrip developed a diagnostic tool capable of de- tecting early-onset dementia at a fraction of the cost and time of standard diagnoses. In need of guidance to scale up their business, BrainTrip turned to the Enterprise Europe Net- work, the largest global net- work supporting small and me- dium-sized enterprises (SMEs) co-financed by the European Union. Jurij Dreo and David Sakić bonded over their research work on dementia. In 2019, they took this shared inter- est and co-founded the Mal- tese medical devices compa- ny BrainTrip. The company developed an affordable and easy-to-use solution for ear- ly-stage dementia screening – known as an 'EEG' (electro- encephalogram). At a small scale, this diagnostic tool was more effective and rapid than the standard dementia diag- nosis. Yet, the company need- ed to overcome funding and regulatory hurdles to have the desired impact on the medical sector. BrainTrip approached the Malta Council for Science & Technology, a partner of the Enterprise Europe Network located in Kalkara (Malta). The Network, with its 3 000 experts from more than 600 member organisations based in 60 countries worldwide, is a valuable source of support for SMEs in accessing EU funding and partnerships. Navigating the market With the support of the Enter- prise Europe Network, Brain- Trip gained access to EU reg- ulatory and marketing experts. Specifically, the Malta contact point for the Network organ- ised a meeting with a medical device certification expert at the BrainTrip premises. Over a two-day period, the expert answered all of their questions about the certification pro- cess for medical devices on the EU market. Another integral component of the Network's support was matching Brain- Trip with business coaches and mentors who could provide ex- pert insight at the national and EU level. "Without the Net- work, expert advice would have cost an arm and a leg. And we wanted to keep our arms and legs," says Dreo. Up to scale Thanks to the Network's guid- ance, BrainTrip is gearing up to enter the market with a proof of concept for a non-invasive dementia screening device, at a fraction of the time (15 minutes) and cost (€100-150) of a standard diagnosis. Prior to March 2020, BrainTrip was preparing to run clinical tri- als in various European health centres or hospitals. With the sustained support of the Net- work, BrainTrip looks forward to expanding staff and business prospects with EU funding as well as through the Rockstart Health accelerator and other partnerships with pharmaceu- tical and healthcare companies throughout Europe.