In more detail
During the second edition of the AI Health Summit 2023, Dr. Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State of the Ministry of Health, delivered a speech concerning the use of AI in the healthcare industry.
Dr. Puthucheary recognised that by embracing and adopting AI in the healthcare sector, it can facilitate better diagnosis and treatment, help with early detection and prevention of diseases, and enhance drug development processes.
To increase the productivity of the healthcare sector and benefit patients, Singapore is adopting a three-pronged approach towards the use of AI:
- The development of enablers and common platforms to facilitate collaboration and allow easy deployment of AI models across different institutions;
- Working with partners to better equip healthcare professionals with skills to employ AI in their work; and
- Embracing new AI technologies, such as generative AI, in a safe and secure manner to benefit patients.
One development relating to developing enablers is the implementation of common platforms for AI deployment around a variety of sites. One such platform is the AI Medical Imaging Platform for Singapore Public Healthcare (AimSG), launched by Synpaxe, Singapore's national healthtech agency, and Singhealth, Singapore's largest group of healthcare institutions.
To equip healthcare professionals with relevant skills, SingHealth and AI Singapore, Singapore's national programme to boost AI capability, has signed a memorandum of understanding where healthcare professionals will receive AI training and qualification catered to the industry. There will be joint research and innovation projects to facilitate the sharing of knowledge. The education videos are scheduled to begin in June 2024, and include both e-learning programmes and physical workshops.
Once again, the Singapore government has stressed the risks that may accompany the use of AI. Synpaxe is working with industry partners to build generative AI applications with built-in data security safeguards to ensure the integrity of patient data even as AI is being applied to streamline healthcare processes.
Key takeaways
The Singapore government's positioning indicates opportunities in the industry for the development and deployment of AI. Companies looking to venture into the AI and/or healthtech space should be mindful of the applicable regulations and guidelines to the deployment of AI in health products and/or services.
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