BlackBerry has partnered up with different health industry professionals to find ways to improve patient care through disruptive technology.
BlackBerry is a modern example of how technology is evolving. The company was, of course, initially made famous because of its mobile phones. However, as other brands like Samsung arguably began to dominate that market, BlackBerry turned to something a bit more disruptive.
Revolutionizing Healthcare
The company began focusing more on software development and according to a press release, are hoping to use blockchain technology to make a difference in the health sector. In fact, BlackBerry aims to revolutionize patient care across the globe.
BlackBerry’s Executive Chairman and CEO, John Chen, explained:
We are applying our expertise in security, data privacy, and communication work in regulated industries such as automotive, financial services, and government to tackle one of the biggest challenges in the healthcare industry: leveraging healthcare endpoints to improve patient outcomes while ensuring security and data privacy.
BlackBerry’s Powerful Partnerships
In order to realize their goals, BlackBerry has partnered with a range of like-minded companies, one of which is the Mackenzie Innovation Institute (Mi2). The latter is constantly on the lookout for ways in which disruptive technology can improve healthcare processes. Mi2 is looking at BlackBerry’s Spark EoT platform to help make these processes better. The Chief Financial Officer of Mi2, Richard Tam, elaborated:
By developing a deeper understanding and exploring how our ‘smart’ systems operate with BlackBerry Spark, we aim to uncover new ways to connect, protect and intuitively manage smart technologies in a hospital and positively impact high-quality patient care. Together, we will focus on comprehensive security, patient privacy and intelligent connectivity, all the while achieving the vision of the Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT™).
ONEBIO will provide the essential blockchain technology that is required for this initiative. It will be powered by BlackBerry’s carrier-grade network operation center (NOC). This partnership will create a safe and secure place to store and share medical data that can be accessed by a range of stakeholders, including laboratories, researchers, and the patients themselves.
Global Commission will be the first company to make use of this innovative technology. The company aims to ensure that children with rare diseases are correctly diagnosed to expedite their treatment. This goal will hopefully be achieved with the use of real-time data available on the blockchain.
The provision of real-time data will also factor into BlackBerry’s QNX OS for Medical 2.0. This real-time operating system will be used in the development of a wide range of critical products. These include patient monitoring systems, blood analysis systems, and robotic surgical instruments.
BlackBerry’s quest to revolutionize data sharing in the healthcare sector doesn’t end there. The company is heading Down Under for its next collaboration, this time with the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA). The research company will rely on blockchain’s inherent security to safely share sensitive information. BlackBerry Workspaces will allow information such as clinical trial results to be readily accessible to this who need it.
The Chief Information Officer of the MIA, Ernie White, spoke about the impact that this new partnership could have, saying:
Our priority is to advance the treatment of melanoma, so any new technology must support the clinical journey for our clinicians, not interrupt it. As we continue to expand our research network, Melanoma Institute Australia is accelerating how our researchers can freely collaborate in a very regulated environment, while maintaining data integrity. BlackBerry Workspaces strikes that balance between security and ease-of-use, while helping to meet data compliance and our own digital transformation goals.
Blockchain and the Health Sector
This is, of course, not the first time that blockchain technology is being used in the healthcare industry. Live Bitcoin News previously reported on how some hospitals in Taipei are using the technology to improve processes and, in doing so, give patients more access to their own medical information.
Healthcare is an essential part of our lives and by making information more readily and freely available to professionals in the industry, we could soon see great strides in research and, ultimately, solutions and even cures. Having this information in a safe, secure, and easily accessible space, namely blockchain, could be just what is needed to get to that point.
What doe do you think of BlackBerry’s partnerships and initiatives? Will it make a difference in the healthcare industry? Let us know in the comments below!
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