The COVID-19 pandemic has prioritized healthcare worldwide and has highlighted the need to strengthen healthcare systems further. This crisis is a catalyst for change and is driving innovation and transformation in healthcare. However, it requires multiple stakeholders such as organizations, enablers and startups to come together to address such challenges.

Siemens Healthineers and the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) have entered a partnership for collaboratively nurturing and supporting innovation in healthcare. Siemens Healthineers and NASSCOM's Center of Excellence for IoT & AI (CoE-IoT & AI) will work with the Indian startup ecosystem to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.

Through this partnership, the Indian startup ecosystem will benefit from the global experience of the Siemens Healthineers Technology Accelerator in collaborating with startups that are working on cutting-edge technologies in the areas of imaging, diagnostics and digital health leveraging AI, Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and Robotics. The Technology Accelerator in India will facilitate collaboration between business lines of Siemens Healthineers and the startups through proof-of-concept or co-creation projects with a potential to result in joint development, commercial partnership, or supplier engagement. Siemens Healthineers will support the startups in further validating their solutions, providing domain expertise, and enabling access to technology building blocks.

Sharing her thoughts, Debjani Ghosh, President, NASSCOM, said, “A global crisis at this level has led to downturns, however, it has also led to business disruptions and transformations which have opened a plethora of opportunities to tenacious entrepreneurs. The Indian start-ups have continued to prove their resilience by developing solutions that would help society cope with the pandemic on a daily basis. It is partnerships such as these that will pave the way for sustainable future ahead and ensure we emerge stronger than ever from this crisis.”

Gerd Hoefner, Managing Director and President, Siemens Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. said, “We are delighted to partner with NASSCOM, which was instrumental in establishing the vibrant Indian startup ecosystem, and especially with the Center of Excellence for IoT & AI that focuses on deep tech in core areas including healthcare. It’s an important milestone for our large R&D set-up in India. By combining our technology leadership and our comprehensive portfolio with NASSCOM’s connect with the community, this partnership will strengthen the ecosystem and enable it to create new value for the healthcare industry.”

Sanjeev Malhotra, CEO of NASSCOM Center of Excellence added, “Since inception in 2016, NASSCOM CoE has fortified its position as an innovation catalyst, by forging strategic partnerships with industry leaders, driving curated co-creation programmes and enabling startups an opportunity to solve real industry use cases. Through our flagship initiative Lifesciences and Healthcare Innovation Forum, we help healthcare enterprises decode industry requirements, work with them to identify the most suitable solution provider, provide a platform for testing solutions and showcasing them to relevant stakeholders and policy makers. We are very excited to add Siemens Healthineers to our network of esteemed partners and are confident of aiding them competently in their quest of furthering their digital healthcare innovation agenda.”

Juergen Simon, Head of Siemens Healthineers Technology Accelerator highlighted, “We believe that the partnership with NASSCOM will enable us to participate in the exponentially growing Indian startup ecosystem. With co-creation as one of the key elements, this partnership will enable harnessing technologies from innovative startups in India to create value for our customers globally.”

Siemens Healthineers will also be a Member of the Advisory Committee for NASSCOM CoE's Lifesciences and Healthcare Innovation Forum (LHIF), to provide guidance in driving the innovation agenda in the healthcare industry.