IET Future Tech Congress 2022 featured expert opinions 

Bengaluru, December 12, 2022: The IET Future Tech Congress 2022 featured expert opinions on the evolution of network connectivity in India and the roadmap for 5G adoption. ‘The discussion was part of a special spotlight on Healthcare at the event organised by The Institution of Engineering and Technology. The segment is one of six special spotlights that are in focus for the event - Manufacturing, Mobility, Sustainability, Technology Standards, Fintech and Healthcare.

The Healthcare spotlight began with an introductory Address by Ravi Ramaswamy, Chair - Organising Committee, IET Future Tech Congress (FTC). A series of discussions followed, namely:
•    A Tech Debate on ‘5G in Healthcare: Are we ready yet?’, chaired by Utpal Mangla, General Manager at IBM, and featuring panelists Kamala Rai - Global Head at, Novartis, Satkeerthi M, CTO at Airtel Business, Vidhur Mahajan, Chief Executive Officer at CARPL.ai, and Sudeep Dey - President IT, Chief Information Officer at Healthcare Global Enterprises Limited. 
•    A use-case presentation on ‘Intersection of Advanced Technologies and Life Sciences’ by Kiran Aatre, Dy Director at Applied Materials India, 
•    A Future Focus session on ‘The Human Twin’ by Dr. Dorin Comaniciu, SVP AI and Digital Innovation at Siemens Healthineers
•    A use-case presentation on SARTHI: IET Disease Surveillance Project presented by Ajit Ashok, Director - Market Solution & Analysis at Philips and Dr. Sumeet Kad- Associate Principal - Life Sciences, South Asia, IQVIA

A key highlight of the spotlight was the tech debate on the current realities of 5G adoption in the healthcare industry, which discussed how the pharma industry will engage and adapt to newer technologies and frameworks in the months to come. It also focussed on how tie-ups with start-ups have been increasingly seen in the healthcare sector to enhance processes that cater to the betterment of healthcare services.

Speaking at the event, Vidhur Mahajan - Chief Executive Officer at CARPL.ai said, “Data is of utmost essence. We have to figure out ways in which we can tap into it whilst also understanding it. We need to understand how we can leverage such data with the correct solutions to bridge gaps in the healthcare industry.”

Speaking on the Intersection of advanced technologies and Life Sciences, Kiran Aatre, Dy Director at Applied Materials India said, ‘Through experiments, we stitch ecosystems and understand how technology can provide for and help such ecosystems. If we dont pull together as a community, nature is going to find a way to fight back”

The session concluded with the presentation of SARTHI: IET Disease Surveillance Project. The objective of the project was to strengthen disease surveillance with accurate solutions in the country by establishing decentralised state-based surveillance. The project focused on sustaining epidemic-prone diseases to detect early warning signals in response to health challenges in the country, states, districts and even to the rural population. 

While presenting the project, Dr. Sumeet Kad, Member - Healthcare Working Group, IET Future Tech Panel said, “Health is for everybody. The objective of our research is to provide one on one access and support to the government. We cater to collecting data points from social media domains, and we have elements to clean such data whilst also transforming and rendering it. These processes will simplify the identification of diseases for the government.’”

The 2-day national technology conference was centered on the theme 'Decoding tomorrow's customer demands", and focused on the opportunities and challenges that the customer demands of the future will reveal. It discussed future-focused technology innovation in the form of stimulating panel discussions, insightful keynotes, use case demonstrations and high-octane tech debates with industry leaders and experts, unveiling technology 5 years from now.