Thursday this week Nokia and the X PRIZE Foundation announced the launch of a new global $2.25 million competition to stimulate the development of a new generation of health sensors and sensing technologies they call the Nokia Sensing X Challenge. The intent is to drastically improve the quality, accuracy and ease of monitoring a person’s health.
The competitions goal is to create a new level of personalized, digital health sensors, never seen before. The aim is also to improve health sensors and sensing technologies so that they can both help empower individuals to effortlessly monitor and collect their own real-time health data, and at the same time give healthcare providers convenient access to critical information whenever and wherever they need it.
The healthcare systems around the globe has for a long time been a pressing social and political issue, and the inefficiencies and total cost of the U.S. healthcare system has been up for debate several times during recent years. As an example the U.S. annually spend in total more than $2 trillion on their healthcare system. This accounts for more than 15 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.
Personal consumer sensors and sensing solutions has the potential to improve existing healthcare services, and also extend the delivery of basic healthcare from both the public and the private sector. The possibilities new sensor solutions may bring can also reduce costs that would benefit health providers, patients and taxpayers.
The Nokia Sensing X Challenge will be a series of three competition events, held over the next three years. Each event will have three phases: Registration, Preliminary Judging and Final Phase Judging. The winners of each competition will be the teams that submit best in class technology as determined by a non-partisan judging panel of cross-functional industry experts.
“Nokia engages in Open Innovation on many different levels; this type of ‘grand challenge’ is not only a unique method of driving significant progress in a short space of time, but one which can also help to create an entire ecosystem”, said Dr. Tirri. “This competition will enable us to realize the full potential of mobile sensing devices, leading to advances in sensing technology which can play a major role in transforming the lives of billions of people around the world.”
“Partnering with Nokia is a natural fit for this competition. Health sensing technologies enabled by artificial intelligence, lab-on-a-chip, and digital imaging are advancing exponentially and will ultimately integrate with your phone. We need to expand sensor and sensing technology beyond disease management to areas such as public health and fitness”, said Dr. Diamandis.
“The Nokia Sensing X Challenge will bring about radical innovation in health sensors and sensing technologies, which paves the way for better choices in when, where, and how individuals receive care. Ultimately, healthcare will be more convenient, affordable, and accessible to consumers worldwide through these integrated digital health solutions.”
The announcement was made by X PRIZE Foundation Chairman and CEO Peter H. Diamandis, MD and Nokia Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Henry Tirri, Ph.D. during their keynote address at the Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA) Convergence Summit in San Diego, Calif.
For more information about the Nokia Sensing X Challenge, visit: nokiasensingxchallenge.org.
