Transformative Education and Healthcare Technologies Delivering Smart Cities Benefits Beyond Legacy Infrastructure Models

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Next-Gen eLearning and eHealth Will Boost Economic Development
19 Jun 2018

While most of the activity around smart cities remains focused on infrastructure-based initiatives such as smart grids and metering, smart street lights, smart waste management and smart bins, smart parking, smart kiosks, and smart utilities, cities also need to address the softer aspects of livability linked to healthcare and education, which in turn drive economic growth. These findings are from a new report by ABI Research, a market-foresight advisory firm providing strategic guidance on the most compelling transformative technologies.

Advanced smart cities like Singapore (FutureSchools program, Smart Nation healthcare initiatives) and Dubai (e-Services portal for universities, Healthcare City) are leading the transition from legacy smart cities practices to next-generation healthcare and educational reforms, leveraging smart home and mobile technologies, AI, Robotics, 5G, Blockchain, Sensors, and Platforms to promote eLearning and eHealth.

“Common to both healthcare and education, the provisioning of remote, online services is transforming service industries in cities,” says Dominique Bonte, Vice President End Markets at ABI Research. “The centralized “brick and mortar” approach of providing standardized education and healthcare at physical locations and at discrete times is giving way to virtualization characterized by real-time, adaptive, continuous, flexible, and intelligent monitoring and guidance.”

While smart healthcare is increasingly targeted at the aging population – those who are about to leave or already have exited the active economy -  smart education is squarely, but not uniquely, directed at younger demographics with the aim of preparing them for their future role in the economy. From a smart city perspective, this brings smart education solidly into the realm of economic development. It also has secondary, more indirect benefits related to inclusion and reduction of poverty. At the same time, ever faster enterprise technology cycles increasingly require continuous re-education, leading to new paradigms of life-long learning, peer-to-peer learning, real-time curricula, embedded and micro learning, which is shifting education from school to the enterprise.

For cities themselves, partnering with local R&D institutes on smart technologies is increasingly important to keep up with technological innovation.  In the United States, The Metrolab Network coordinates 35 city-university innovation partnerships and 160 projects which is pairing university researchers with city policymakers in 59 universities and 44 cities.

By 2028, the number of patients monitored remotely will exceed the number of patients monitored on-site in medical facilities. However, healthcare is being integrated into a wider “well-being” environment of healthy lifestyles, safety, and preventive attitudes, blurring the boundaries between traditional healthcare and overall smart city livability objectives.

Interestingly, while smart education and smart healthcare will drive economic growth, advanced cities like Dubai are developing healthcare as a thriving economic sector in and of itself, centered on medical tourism. Similarly, large U.S universities such as Harvard attract huge numbers of foreign students paying high fees. These universities can be considered profitable businesses in their own right.

About ABI Research

ABI Research provides strategic guidance for visionaries needing market foresight on the most compelling transformative technologies, which reshape workforces, identify holes in a market, create new business models and drive new revenue streams. ABI’s own research visionaries take stances early on those technologies, publishing groundbreaking studies often years ahead of other technology advisory firms. ABI analysts deliver their conclusions and recommendations in easily and quickly absorbed formats to ensure proper context. Our analysts strategically guide visionaries to take action now and inspire their business to realize a bigger picture. For more information about ABI Research’s forecasting, consulting and teardown services, visionaries can contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific or visit www.abiresearch.com.

About ABI Research

ABI Research is a global technology intelligence firm uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology solution providers and end-market companies. We serve as the bridge that seamlessly connects these two segments by providing exclusive research and expert guidance to drive successful technology implementations and deliver strategies proven to attract and retain customers.

ABI Research 是一家全球性的技术情报公司,拥有得天独厚的优势,充当终端市场公司和技术解决方案提供商之间的桥梁,通过提供独家研究和专业性指导,推动成功的技术实施和提供经证明可吸引和留住客户的战略,无缝连接这两大主体。

For more information about ABI Research’s services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific, or visit www.abiresearch.com.

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