Exploring the Role of ICT in Healthcare & Biotech in the InnoVEX Saloon

 2019-02-20 By: InnoVEX Team

On February 19, the InnoVEX Saloon: Healthcare & Biotech x ICT was held as collaboration between the InnoVEX team, TwIoTA, and IDM. The event was also supported by NTU and BE Capital who helped introduce speakers & the moderator. The saloon featured a panel discussion with four distinguished speakers from multiple backgrounds: Mr. Jerry Cheng, Senior Director of HTC Deep Q; Professor Tang-Long Shen, Professor and Director of Center for Biotechnology, NTU; Mr. Paul Cheng, Senior Manager of Wi Advance; and Professor Tsai-Kun Li, the Associate Dean of College of Medicine, NTU. The saloon is moderated by Mr. Andy Chen of BE Capital.


The Demo-Pitch session had 6 startups; both domestic and international; all of whom presented their own innovation in Healthcare and Biotech through ICT. This InnoVEX Saloon also had participants from various national trade offices such as the British, Hong Kong, Poland, and New Zealand Trade Offices. From the corporate side, major companies such as Apple, Samsung, ARM, UBS, and CTBC are among the participants of the saloon. The guests also included representatives from well-known associations such as ITRI, III, and TRIPLE.


Communication is Key


One of the points that was repeated by the speakers was the importance of communication. Especially as the industries of Healthcare, Biotech, and ICT tend to have stark contrast and differing ideas. At the same time; communication is one of the aspects of Healthcare and Biotech that can benefit greatly from ICT. For example: using VR to enhance the learning experience. Medical degree students might not be able to properly see certain aspects of the human body without a proper tool. This can be circumvented by VR with the added benefit of increasing the students’ concentration and fully immersing the students in the learning.


Another example is how using AI can greatly improve a hospital’s efficiency by directing patients to relevant departments by having the patient communicate with a chatbot prior to visitation. This will not only help save time, but also reduce cost. By using further detailed data analysis, it might also be possible to reduce unnecessary prescription and procedures. The benefit is not only on reducing the costs of the hospitals; but most importantly reduces the possibility of complication on the patient.


In relation to startups; timing is a vital aspect that entrepreneurs must pay attention to as they run the risk of accidentally revealing their IP. Startups must also take care to comply with existing regulation to make sure no preventable punitive measures will be taken to their innovation.


6 Startups, 6 Applications


Having opened the stage for the demo-pitch session, six startups joined to showcase their innovative applications of ICT in healthcare and biotech. The startups are:

  • Assuretech that aims to provide life-saving products & services for allergy sufferers through hardware and digital app.
  • Cloudmed that not only measures biosignals, but also stores the data to their cloud platform
  • Soteria that combines medical image analysis (CT and Cone Beam CT), 3D reconstruction, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to manage Obstructive Sleep Apnea
  • Sen Science that combines traditional wisdom & modern neuroscience to improve their users’ health through a wearable technology
  • MLK that provides a variety of wound repair solutions for general and chronic wounds
  • Medjade technology that develops medical devices for precision medicine to find the optimum treatment through AI

  • While the InnoVEX Saloon demo-pitch does not come with cash prizes, it is still an excellent opportunity for startups to gain feedback & exposure, test market reception, and open investment opportunities.


    Join the Next InnoVEX Saloon: The Relationship of Cyber Security, A.I. and Big Data in Digital Transformation


    With the topics of Cyber security, AI, Big Data, and Digital transformation; the next InnoVEX Saloon will be held on March 28, 2019. Held in collaboration between TCA, the InnoVEX team, British Office Taipei, PwC, Aplus Management Consulting Company, and TwIoTA; the event will discuss how digital transformation makes cyber security, AI, and Big Data a more important facet of today’s business.


    For more details on the InnoVEX Saloon, please visit our website and subscribe to our social media channels: Facebook and Twitter