Sometimes it feels as though the wearable HealthTech universe is expanding at the speed of light. There’s a steady stream of new product announcements, new research projects, new applications, and new insights into the potential benefits. But it also seems that many of the researchers and companies are headed off in their own directions, creating proprietary solutions that may end up trapped on a dead branch of development.
That’s why yesterday’s announcement from two industry organizations is such welcome news. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers — better known as the IEEE — and the Intelligent Health Association (IHA) have announced a collaboration to develop and promote interoperable, standards-based solutions for global healthcare. IEEE is the leading organization for establishing international standards in technology fields, and it has the clout needed to make them stick.
The collaboration also includes educational programs to help participants within the industry understand some of the important challenges that must be addressed. From the Internet of Things to networks of wearable sensors, HealthTech devices are generating massive amounts of data already. This information can be put to better use more easily if the various systems involved are designed to meet shared standards.
