Innovate for Better Health Outcomes for All

By Girish Ramachandran

President, TCS, Asia Pacific

Whereas in the past, there was technology in every business; in the last two years, every company has become a technology firm

This has never been truer than in recent times where a confluence of current world affairs and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has meant that organisations, as well as governments, now have great impetus to leverage the power and potential of technology to drive digital transformation and solve real problems.

To this end, I had the pleasure of sharing my thoughts at the ‘New Horizons for Investing in Innovations for Global Health and Resilient Health Systems’ event by Health Innovation Exchange – HIEx that took place in Geneva recently, where I spoke about how the public and private sectors can work hand-in-hand to systemically scale up innovation, build a digital spine and deliver real change and solutions to healthcare inequalities, which have been exacerbated by the political, economic and humanitarian whirlpool brought on by Covid-19.

Specifically, TCS and HIEx will jointly deliver two platforms that will go a long way towards resolving the current challenges we face and pave the way towards a #sustainable future.

The first thing we will build together is a ‘Specialized and Proficient Integrated Network of Experts’, or SPINE for short, which is essentially a digital platform that connects patients in need of healthcare solutions and services to a network of primary, secondary, and tertiary health experts and providers. With SPINE, we hope to alleviate the twin problems of inaccessibility and inequality that have plagued the global healthcare ecosystem and deliver an improved outlook.

Even as we strive to tackle the first problem, we can’t neglect the second, related issue that, if left unresolved, can lead to undesirable outcomes.

I’m referring to healthcare financing. This is where TCS HIEx tokenization platform for SDGs[1] can help. This is conceptualised as a #blockchain platform that investors, especially retail ones, across the globe can easily invest in the most promising healthcare start-ups by purchasing the HIEx SDG3 token. These start-ups can in turn receive the funds raised easily via cryptocurrency or through cash, giving them the monetary resources to innovate and bring their solutions to market.

Speaking from both a personal and corporate levels, I’m heartened that Tata Consultancy Services has again played a pivotal role in building a sustainable future for all through innovation, technology and collective knowledge.

I’d also like to extend my most sincere appreciation to Pradeep Kakkattil and his team at HIEx for working with us to bring this partnership to reality.

Together, we can now look forward confidently to better quality healthcare for all.

[1] Tokenization refers to the digitalization of real-world assets using blockchain technology and is seen as the future of the platform business models powering sustainable growth by connecting the participants in a marketplace, making it easy for them to transact and enabling them to innovate together. Tokens are being increasingly used in real estate, where investors can own portions of real estate, in collectibles such as art, and in the sustainability context for circularity initiatives[1]. Start-ups and businesses are raising funds through initial coin offerings (ICO) that allot token shares to investors. Tokenization of equity allows for the easy and affordable creation, issuance, and transfer of digital tokens, thereby democratizing fundraising process.