07 April 2022
Thailand has become what it claims to be ‘the first country’ to launch ASEAN’s first 5G Smart Hospital following thanks to a new digital health care facility in Bangkok.
The collaboration with Huawei aims to bring patients a more convenient and efficient experience by introducing 5G, cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This includes promoting Siriraj Hospital to become a model for smart hospitals in Thailand and the world.
According to a press statement from Huawei, the 5G smart hospital project is the “first and largest” in Thailand and the Southeast Asian region. The facility will also showcase various innovative digital applications.
Huawei and the Siriraj Hospital strengthened their partnership around 5G since the pandemic started. A five-year memorandum of understanding of an immediate upgrade of the hospital’s previous infrastructure and the conduct of demonstration exhibitions and events to promote 5G was signed by both parties recently.
The Siriraj World Class 5G Smart Hospital project comprises nine sub-projects comprising smart emergency rooms and emergency medical service. There is also a pathological diagnosis system with 5G and AI, an AI platform for non-communicable diseases, smart inventory management, a permission-based blockchain for personal health records, smart logistics with a 5G self-driving car, multi-access edge computing and a hybrid cloud system.
“The Thai government understands the importance of technology, successfully drafting a plan for Digital Thailand,” said Thai prime minister and minister of defence general Prayut Chan-o-cha said during his address on the national policy on 5G technology and digital economy. “The utilisation of digital technologies and 5G in the medical field will help reduce processes for medical personnel, decrease overall risk, and will improve the effectiveness and efficacy of healthcare for patients.”
He added that Siriraj 5G Smart Hospital is a pilot project, which will expand to other hospitals in the future.
Siriraj Hospital and Huawei also stated that they established a Joint Innovation Lab to incubate innovative 5G applications. It is expected that 30 5G medical applications will be incubated and promoted nationwide in 2022.
