Thailand, Huawei unveil ASEAN’s first 5G “Smart Hospital”

• The 5G smart hospital project is the “first and largest” in Thailand and the Southeast Asian region.
• The Siriraj 5G Smart Hospital is a pilot project, which will expand to other hospitals in the future. 
• It is expected that 30 5G medical applications will be incubated and promoted nationwide in 2022.

Thailand is leading the region in mobile network technology as it has become the first country to launch ASEAN’s first 5G Smart Hospital. 

The collaboration with Huawei Technologies aims to bring patients a more convenient and efficient experience by introducing 5G, cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. This includes promoting Siriraj Hospital to become a model for smart hospitals in Thailand and the world.

First and largest 5G smart hospital in ASEAN

According to a press statement from Huawei, the 5G smart hospital project is the “first and largest” in Thailand and the Southeast Asian region. The new digital health care facility is located in Bangkok and will showcase various innovative digital applications. 

Both Huawei and the Siriraj Hospital strengthened their partnership around 5G since the pandemic started. A five-year memorandum of understanding of an immediate upgrade of the hospital’s previous infrastructure and the conduct of demonstration exhibitions and events to promote 5G was signed by both parties recently.

The Siriraj World Class 5G Smart Hospital project comprises nine sub-projects comprising smart emergency rooms and emergency medical service, a pathological diagnosis system with 5G and AI, an AI platform for non-communicable diseases, smart inventory management, a permission-based blockchain for personal health records, smart logistics with a 5G self-driving car, multi-access edge computing and a hybrid cloud system.

Siriraj Hospital and Huawei also stated that they established a Joint Innovation Lab to incubate innovative 5G applications. It is expected that 30 5G medical applications will be incubated and promoted nationwide in 2022.

The first step in the utilization of digital technologies

“The Thai government understands the importance of technology, successfully drafting a plan for Digital Thailand. The utilization of digital technologies and 5G in the medical field will help reduce processes for medical personnel, decrease overall risk, and will improve the effectiveness and efficacy of healthcare for patients, Thailand Prime Minister and Minister of Defence General Prayut Chan-o-cha said during his address on the national policy on 5G technology and digital economy.

He added that Siriraj 5G Smart Hospital is a pilot project, which will expand to other hospitals in the future. 

Abel Deng, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd., highlighted that this cross-sector collaboration will enhance and upgrade the services of Siriraj Hospital to progress it to become a smart medical centre using digital technologies based on 5G, AI, Big Data infrastructure, and Cloud Edge processing for patient tracking, disease diagnosis by AI on Cloud, data storage and analysis, and allocation of resources.

All of which will help pave the way to fulfil the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital’s vision to become the “Medical Institute of the Nation, a Creator of Global Citizen Wellbeing”, and a Smart Hospital model for other hospitals in Thailand,” he said.

“This signifies a model for upgrading Thailand’s public health industry in the future and contributes to Siriraj’s transition to becoming a Smart Hospital, in line with Huawei’s mission to Grow in Thailand, Contribute to Thailand,” said Deng.

---

---

---

---