Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health, at the MOU Signing Ceremony & Official Opening of Alibaba-NTU Singapore Joint Research Institute, 28 February 2018

Professor Subra Suresh, President of Nanyang Technological University, 

Mr Jeff Zhang, Chief Technology Officer, Alibaba Group, 

Distinguished Guests, 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Good afternoon.

1            It is my great pleasure to be here with you this afternoon for the launch of the Alibaba-Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore Joint Research Institute.

2           I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Alibaba and NTU on the launch of this new joint research institute. I am especially heartened to see that researchers and industry practitioners are joining hands in bringing advanced technologies to enable citizens to enjoy good health and age confidently. 

Demographic Shifts

3           Population ageing is a phenomenon not only in Singapore but across Asia.  In the next decade, Asia will be home to around 580 million seniors aged 65 and above^[1]. As a region however, countries are at different stages of economic development and demographic ageing.  For instance, Japan is well ahead in its trajectory, with close to 28% of their population today aged 65 and over.      

4           In Singapore, we have around 500,000 seniors aged 65 and above today.  By 2030, we expect this to double to over 900,000, or one in four Singaporeans.  In terms of old-age-support-ratios (OASR), this places us at where Japan is currently at - two working adults for every senior aged 65 and above.^[2] Thailand will reach the same level in 2035 and China by 2055.^[3]       

Challenges and technology’s promise

5           For Singapore, rapid population ageing presents a triple challenge to the healthcare sector: First, healthcare utilisation will increase as elderly tend to be higher consumers of healthcare. Second, the concurrent trend of smaller families and rising singlehood will mean less caregiving support within the family. Third, we will have to contend with a shrinking local workforce to tap on.

6           Technology holds the unique promise of addressing this triple challenge head on through enhancing the quality of life of our ageing population, in a sustainable and scalable fashion, while transcending the challenges of a more constrained workforce. 

7           Indeed, in Singapore, innovation and research are a key pillar and enabler under our national blueprint for population ageing, the Action Plan for Successful Ageing.  We believe that population ageing is not only about overcoming challenges, but also realising opportunities. Instead of worrying about getting old, we want to unlock the potential of longevity.  In this regard, MOH launched the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) on Active and Confident Ageing in August 2015, to catalyse cross-institutional, multi-disciplinary and translatable ageing-related research. We seek to encourage research that can be applied for new solutions to enable seniors to age well. In particular, we want to catalyse technology and innovation to achieve three key objectives.

A. Extending health span

8           First, we are using technology to empower seniors to improve their health and remain independent for as long as possible. Through our HealthTech agency, Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS), we have rolled out several technology platforms to change the way care is delivered in our public healthcare institutions and in the community. For example, our local innovation Smart Health TeleRehab enables patients to perform their therapy exercises with wearable sensors and guided videos in the comfort of their homes. Therapists are able to remotely monitor their patients’ condition asynchronously, and be more productive with the use of a smart dashboard that provides information of their patients’ performance. This new model of care greatly benefits patients, especially those who have mobility issues.

9           In future, we look forward to more unobtrusive sensing, digital exer-games and intelligent companions. For example, elderly patients could find themselves accompanied by a friendly robot at home. While engaging them in meaningful conversations, the robot would assess their cognitive abilities and data would be sent to the healthcare institution for remote monitoring by their care team.

B. Create ageless workplaces

10          Second, we are leveraging technology to create ageless workplaces.  For example, under the National Innovation Challenge on Ageing, NTU in partnership with Changi General Hospital’s Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART), is looking to build an “assisted shelving” device that will enable mature workers to handle the most common injury-prone and heavy lifting tasks in supermarkets.  This device would empower elderly workers, literally and figuratively, and enable them to work in an industry that normally requires a younger physique. Although designed for supermarket work, the device is applicable across industries that has small warehouses or require lifting and carrying of heavy or multiple items. We look forward to such innovations being deployed in the future workplace. 

C. Graceful ageing 

11         Third, we are using technology to enable graceful ageing.  For example, crowdsourcing technologies are being explored to enable our silver generation to contribute their knowledge, skills and experience, thereby enabling them to keep active and engaged in the community. Changi General Hospital’s 24/7 tele-befriending and tele-care service also supports seniors living in the community through providing reminders for medical appointments, alerts on active ageing activities in their area, information about programmes and urgent assistance if seniors are unwell. From June this year, an app developed by IHiS will be provided to seniors in the programme to connect them directly with the call centre, with a GPS to locate seniors should they fall outside their homes. 

Using Technology to Transform Care delivery

12         To enable graceful ageing, we need to transform care delivery to a model that is not reactive but preventive, and not physician centric but patient centric. Technology is key in this ongoing care transformation. To support screening programmes by the Health Promotion Board and our Regional Health Systems, we are developing a common IT platform to establish common screening standards and enable data sharing across the healthcare sector. This will enable post-screening follow-up and intervention, including long-term monitoring of the identified at-risk population in the community.

13          We are also working to customise our interventions to our patients needs and prevent readmission as much as possible. For example, we are harnessing artificial intelligence and using predictive models to identify post-discharge patients with high risk of multiple readmissions so that they can receive more timely intervention to improve their health.

14        To drive transformation through technology, we have put in place policies to support innovation through a regulatory sandbox to allow pilot projects to experiment safely in Singapore. Beyond development, we want to fully maximise the benefits these innovations can bring to all Singaporeans. Guided by one of MOH’s key shifts of “Beyond Quality to Value”, IHiS hopes to help innovations successfully scale across the healthcare sector. This regulatory framework provides a structured process to guide innovators from “proof of concept” to “proof of value” supported by necessary funding to scale the solution nationally. 

Closing

15        This new joint research institute being launched today by Alibaba and NTU is an excellent example of the innovation that we need to achieve our vision of meaningful and confident ageing for our seniors, and we welcome more of such partnerships. Tech giant Alibaba has made waves globally for their digital inventions. They introduced the ET Medical Brain that uses AI to help interpret CT scans for lung cancer, and also launched an AI medical lab to help doctors make diagnoses. The NTU LILY Research Centre is Singapore’s first research centre focusing on technological solutions to address ageing problems. It developed AI-empowered ageing technologies such as award-winning wellness games and ageing-in-place platforms that have been well received by over 10,000 senior citizens. NTU LILY is also working closely with the Institute of Geriatrics and Active Ageing (IGA), Tan Tock Seng Hospital, National Healthcare Group (NHG), on the development of healthcare technologies to enable active ageing for the elderly. With this established relationship, LILY will also be exploring potential collaborations with NHG through this NTU and Alibaba partnership. The synergistic collaborations will no doubt invigorate the healthcare sector.

16        With foresight and ingenuity, Asia can lead the way in redefining ageing.  I eagerly await to see the developments this new research institute will bring, and look forward to exploring more collaborative opportunities among our national agencies, industry partners and the research institutes.

^[1] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). Estimated at 582 million seniors aged 65 and above in Asia in 2030. 

^[2] DOS. Refers to the Old-Age Support Ratio (OASR) for the Citizen Population in Singapore i.e. Adults aged 20-64 for every senior aged 65 and above.

^[3] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). Thailand is at 2.571 at 2035 and China at 1.93 by 2055.