Reimagining paediatric care: technology, trust, and the global movement for child-centred innovation

Technology is rapidly reshaping paediatric healthcare, offering unprecedented opportunities to improve outcomes, personalise care, and extend reach beyond traditional clinical settings. From AI-driven diagnostics and wearable monitoring to immersive therapeutics and digital mental health tools, innovation is enabling more proactive, child-centred models of care. In the UK, initiatives such as the National Centre for Child Health Technology (NCCHT) and the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Paediatrics and Child Health are driving strategic adoption, while international networks including, KidsUp in the US, EPTRI, i4Kids in Spain, ISPI, the WHO's Global Digital Health Strategy and EU-funded paediatric innovation consortia are fostering cross-border collaboration and knowledge exchange. Despite this momentum, significant challenges remain. Fragmented infrastructure, limited interoperability, and uneven digital literacy across the workforce hinder widespread implementation. Regulatory frameworks often lag behind technological advances, particularly in areas like AI, where transparency, bias mitigation, and safeguarding are critical. Moreover, funding pathways for paediatric-specific technologies remain underdeveloped compared to adult-focused innovation. Children and young people (CYP) are increasingly vocal about their expectations for health tech. They value tools that are intuitive, inclusive, and respectful of their autonomy. Feedback from CYP engagement exercises highlights a desire for technologies that support mental wellbeing, facilitate communication with clinicians, and offer personalised insights, without feeling intrusive or overtly clinical. However, concerns persist around data privacy, digital exclusion, and the potential for technology to replace human connection. Ethical considerations are also central to paediatric digital health. AI applications must be transparent, accountable, and co-designed with children and families to ensure they reflect lived experience and avoid unintended harm. Equity must be embedded from the outset, ensuring that innovation does not widen disparities in access, outcomes, or trust. To realise the full potential of technology in paediatrics, we must build inclusive, ethically grounded ecosystems that centre children's voices, support the workforce, and enable safe, scalable innovation. This requires sustained investment, cross-sector collaboration, and a commitment to embedding digital transformation within the broader goals of child health equity and empowerment.