With the need for low network latency, healthcare and maritime are the key areas that could benefit from 5G connectivity. However, they will also need to prepare for higher security risks.
Organizations across most verticals have undergone digital transformation in recent years, and healthcare is no exception. In fact, most healthcare organizations have completed basic digitization and are now entering “deep water,” according to Xia Zun, global public sector president of Huawei Technologies.
Technologies such as 5GXia, who spoke to the media on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, said that the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing have emerged. and integrated with medical engineering to drive innovation in healthcare. Spain.
The GSMA predicts edge computing and IoT will drive more 5G opportunities, with 12% of operators already offering their own wireless products and services. More are expected to do so as IoT deployments expand this year, according to the industry body.
The global pandemic has accelerated the industry’s digital transformation, Xia said, as a number of hospitals including those in Singapore have begun to explore and implement smart healthcare technology. . 5G is particularly important as it addresses network latency challenges, which is especially important in the healthcare sector, Xia said.
Huawei is now looking to tap into that need and provide services to support the industry’s digital transformation efforts. Specifically, it identified products around four use cases for healthcare–namely, smart hospital ICT infrastructure, digital pathology, smart wards, and smart wards. Optical medical imaging.
Healthcare is one of the key areas for Huawei’s public sector business, which is the largest segment of the supplier’s business unit. It currently serves more than 2,800 hospitals and medical research institutions globally.
For example, the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker’s digital imaging products include networking, storage and video conferencing for faster image processing, data lifecycle security, and reproducibility. images in high resolution 3D and 4K. They aim to improve efficiency in diagnosis and treatment, especially since 70% of the data used in clinical diagnosis and treatment in hospitals is imaging. According to Huawei, these files are large and may freeze when users view them.
It is also using 5G, IoT and Wi-Fi technologies to provide a wireless IoT network system for smart hospital wards. Huawei is introducing the product as a way for hospitals to cut network deployment and maintenance costs, and improve the patient experience with features such as IV fluid monitoring and staffing locations.
The technology provider is also integrating OceanStor Pacific distributed storage systems and lossless compression technology to process pathological data. Touted to cut storage space by 30%, the product allows viewing of more than 1,000 slices “in seconds” and supports remote pathological analysis. Koh Hong Eng, Huawei’s global director of public service industry science, said it can improve analysis efficiency by 70%.
Koh said the vendor’s storage system is equipped with ransomware detection and can prevent data from being uploaded if its firmware detects a ransomware signature. Local storage snapshots are also used to enable fast data recovery, and air-gap measures help isolate data in a secured area so services can be restored.
He added such security features are important because the healthcare sector is one top target for ransomware attacks.
Samuel Wai, system director of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority, who was present at the press conference, said data backups are also essential.
When asked how he addressed concerns about the industry’s ever-expanding attack surface amid the growing adoption of IoT technologies and online data usage, Wai pointed to the possibility data recovery if a breach occurs. This means that taking regular data backups is key, he said.
He noted that Hong Kong is also looking to promote IoT initiatives to facilitate home healthcare and is evaluating how IoT data can be securely transferred to hospital databases. .
This has added complexity, Wai said, as storage device vendors are now adopting different data standards. He said Hong Kong is currently looking to establish a data standard in the healthcare sector to unify all messaging formats, which can then be applied across the territory.
It is also assessing how data should be secured and is exploring different options, including working with local telcos for private implementations. 5G network and use a VPN.
Security matters as traditional, digital domains converge
Cybersecurity risks will inevitably increase as traditional industries undergo digital transformation and Converged OT (operational technology) system with IT systemYue Kun, Huawei’s CTO for roads, waterways and smart ports said.
This further underscores the need for organizations in these sectors to ensure their IT infrastructure and systems have a solid security foundation, Yue said, adding that Huawei has done work with its partner ecosystem to address potential risks.
ask if CII (critical information infrastructure) areas He said powerful technologies that can be deployed on both public and private 5G networks should run private 5G networks for enhanced security.
For instance, network slicing could be implemented to secure public 5G networks. Therefore, it will be difficult to judge that one is safer than the other, he noted.
Furthermore, such deployment depends on government policy and spectrum allocation in the local jurisdiction, Yue said.
In addition to healthcare, Huawei is also targeting to push its services into another CII area – maritime. The Chinese supplier in January signed an agreement with Tianjin Port Group to build a digital twin port, with the aim of introducing more automation and intelligence. The cooperation will include building new automated terminals as well as upgrading traditional terminals.
Noting that ports play an important role in maritime transport, Yue said: “Building more efficient smart ports is becoming an increasingly urgent requirement for the global supply chain. Terminal C of Tianjin Port has been operating stably for more than a year, which proves that 5G and L4 autonomous driving was successful adopted by the industry in Chinaand is creating real commercial and social value.”
Terminal C, which begins large-scale commercial operations in October 2021, has autonomously operated container cranes and robots roaming the area. Remotely controlled jetty cranes lift loaded containers onto cargo ships and place them on robots for ground transportation. According to Huawei, the port’s container throughput last year reached more than 21 million TEUs, among the top 10 in the world.
The supplier now hopes to expand its reach to ports outside of China.
Yue said the Singapore Port Authority (PSA) jointly invested in a terminal located across from a Huawei exhibiting at the Tianjin port. He noted that this will give PSA an opportunity to see how the Chinese port benefits from Huawei’s deployment, adding that he hopes PSA will make the “right choice”.
Singapore’s container terminal operator PSA is in the middle move location via three terminals to Port Tuas by 2027.
Based in Singapore, Eileen Yu reported for ZDNET from Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona, Spain, at the invitation of Huawei Technologies.
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