Healthcare Sector Skill Council collaborates with C-DAC to establish Center of Excellence in healthcare technologies

The Center of Excellence would also facilitate the research and support establishment of skill hubs in collaboration with the healthcare industry

Healthcare Sector Skill Council (HSSC) and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) signed an agreement to establish Center of Excellence (CoE) for developing specialised training program for the healthcare workforce in emerging technologies and thereby creating a ‘Smart’ Healthcare Workforce for Smart technology. The Center of Excellence would also facilitate the research and support establishment of skill hubs in collaboration with the healthcare industry.

The MoU was signed by Ashish Jain, CEO, HSSC while Dr P K Khosla, Executive Director, C-DAC Mohali signed it on behalf of C-DAC Mohali.

Jain briefed that the CoE will develop skilling/ upskilling programs and train healthcare professionals for using healthcare products/solutions in the areas of digital health, artificial intelligence, health tech, 3-D printing, cyber-security and other technologies related to healthcare sector. This landmark initiative is envisaged to provide impetus to research and development in artificial intelligence and healthcare technology through active participation of researchers and healthcare professionals to work in tandem with the technologies after acquiring necessary skill sets.

Dr Naresh Trehan, Chairman, Healthcare Sector Skill Council in his message said, “The role of Technology is rapidly emerging as a game changer for delivering healthcare services. Recognizing the need for the healthcare workforce to be trained on new emerging technologies, a specific committee on ‘Future Skills in Health Tech’ is constituted under the HSSC Academic Committee. I hope this collaboration between HSSC & C-DAC would devise industry aligned courses to prepare the healthcare workforce in new technologies.”

Dr Devi Shetty, Chairman, HSSC Academic Committee says, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will lead to an inevitable and essential shift in how health care is delivered in the country. The greatest challenge to AI in healthcare is not only that it will have to be useful, but rather ease of its adoption in daily clinical practice. This collaboration is the first step towards preparing our healthcare workforce to understand technology and participate in its developmental and adoption process. This will not only prepare them for the future by enhancing their skills but also help the entire ecosystem to adapt to futuristic technologies.”

Dr Khosla said, “C-DAC has been able to play a pivotal role in rolling out technology solutions for the country. In the healthcare domain he said that this MOU would help in bridging the gap between technologists and healthcare and help solve some of core issues by leveraging technology.”

The MoU was signed in the presence of Anil Pipal, Director, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Dr Shubnum Singh, Governing Council Member, HSSC and various officials from CDAC & HSSC.