Ushering in a new era in terms of responsible and inclusive deployment of digital technologies for health, Punjab Government on Sunday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) for development of digital technologies in the state’s health sector.

While signing the MoU on behalf of Punjab Government, the state’s Additional Chief Secretary (Governance Reforms) Anirudh Tewari stated that the COVID-19 pandemic reminds us of the importance of public health for the personal, social, and economic wellbeing of citizens.

Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play an important role in combating infectious diseases and the forgotten pandemic of non-communicable diseases, he said.

Meanwhile, the state Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Hussan Lal informed that the Punjab Government and I-DAIR will be laying the groundwork for key projects in the coming months that will include data interoperability, real time epidemiology and dashboard, benchmarking of digital health solutions and ways to enhance synergy across communities of practice which will supplement and build on the ongoing digital health work of the State Government.

Congratulating the team for this unique initiative, the state Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan said: “We are proud that Punjab has been chosen as the first government partner of I-DAIR in developing models of people-centric digital infrastructures for health.”

Taking part in the deliberations, I-DAIR CEO Ambassador Amandeep Singh Gill pointed out that this collaborative endeavour would provide digital opportunity to nearly 30 million Punjabis to reinvent and reinvigorate the delivery of health services in the world. “The I-DAIR team looks forward to developing this strategic partnership over the coming years to ensure the best medical and healthcare facilities to the citizens,” he said.