This year's ESCRS Winter Meeting will be held virtually from February 18-20, 2022. In this article we take you into the program of the virtual meeting and show you the highlights of digitalization, automation and digital transformation of the European cataract and refractive community. Register for the ESCRS virtual now.

Xeno-Hoc is a Japanese startup specializing in the development of artificial intelligence algorithms. Especially in the field of automated image data analysis in ophthalmology, the research group of founder Hiroki Masumoto (Head Prof. Hitoshi Tabuchi, Hiroshima, Japan) has published a number of high-profile publications. Moreover, the work group is also specialized in both anterior and posterior segment imaging of the eye.

Nikki Hafezi was among the "TOP 40 under 40" in the journal The Ophthalmologist. She is the CEO of EMAGine AG, Zug, Switzerland as well as the managing partner at GroupAdvance Consulting, Zug, Switzerland and is also still involved in the ELZA Institute, Zurich, Switzerland. Nikki's focus has been to turn ideas into things that revolutionize ophthalmology - Smart, Small and Disruptive. In our interview, we talk to her about how she turns ideas into reality and the challenges that need to be overcome.

Renato Ambrósio Jr is one of the best known and most experienced specialists in Artificial Intelligence and Multimodal Imaging in Cornea and Refractive Surgery. In this interview, he shares his thoughts on how digitization and artificial intelligence will revolutionize both the diagnosis but also the treatment of corneal diseases such as corneal ectasia or keratoconus.

The German start-up Glaucare aims to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from glaucoma. In doing so, it wants to support both patients and ophthalmologists in a fully integrated way during diagnostics, therapy finding and even in case of a surgical intervention in the immediate postoperative phase. In addition, the focus of this article is on the extent to which working in a health care start-up can be more attractive for young students than working directly in a clinical setting.

As a corneal, cataract and refractive surgeon, José Güell works at the Instituto Microcirugia Ocular (IMO) in Barcelona, Spain. He is also one of the founders of ESCRS as well as EuCornea and thus at the forefront of innovation in diagnosis and therapy of the anterior segment of the eye. In this interview, we talk to him about telemedicine, smart gadgets, the future of ophthalmology, and how young ophthalmologists should position themselves now.