IMDA inks first open innovation partnership with NUH

NUH will gain access to a network of around 21,000 innovators and solution providers.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is working with the National University Hospital (NUH) under its Open Innovation Platform (OIP) to help accelerate healthcare innovation.

IMDA signed a memorandum of intent with NUH through the Kent Ridge Office of Innovation (KROI), establishing a partnership that will bring together NUH’s clinical and operational expertise with the agency’s OIP network of approximately 21,000 innovators and solution providers.

It marks IMDA's first OIP partnership with a public healthcare institution.

Under the setup, NUH can tap into the OIP network, which includes startups, technology firms, and research institutions, to identify, evaluate, and pilot promising solutions that address its priority healthcare challenges.

The two parties have already launched their first innovation challenge, seeking artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled solutions that can detect fall hazards in patients' homes earlier and at scale.

NUH plans to launch further challenges on the platform in March, July, and October each year.

"Healthcare innovation is most impactful when it addresses real needs on the ground,” said Dr Ling Zheng Jye, KROI head.

“Through the [OIP], we can engage a broad community of innovators to tackle challenges identified by our clinicians and operational teams, creating new opportunities to develop and test solutions that can benefit both patients and healthcare professionals,” he added.

The IMDA-NUH partnership builds on KROI's broader efforts to strengthen ties across Singapore's innovation ecosystem, including collaborations with organisations such as the National University of Singapore and academic publisher Elsevier.

Since its launch in 2018, the OIP has facilitated more than 450 innovation challenges and supported over $25m in prize funding.