Finland a world leader in health technology

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 30.9.2016 9.22

Column Pivi Sillanaukee

Health technology could be the engine of new growth in Finland. The Finnish Funding Agency
for Innovation Tekes and IBM have concluded a collaboration agreement on developing a digital
health and wellbeing ecosystem in Finland.

IBM is to set up Centres of Excellence and Innovation in our country to develop new kind of
services and digital solutions for healthcare. IBM's ecosystem is based on artificial intelligence.
It has multiple applications, from imaging to cancer diagnostics and development of personalised
care.

The use of artificial intelligence brings a new dimension to the clinical decision-making by
doctors.

Globally, IBM is a forerunner in using artificial intelligence. The intelligent IBM Watson is
capable of exploring vast masses of data. It is to be used in healthcare to support diagnostics and
decisions on care. In Finland Watson is being used, for example, by the Hospital District of
Helsinki and Uusimaa HUS for predicting serious infections in premature babies.

A project utilising IBM's expertise is being started in Central Finland, involving various actors in
health and wellbeing sectors and the university.

Many Finnish companies working on health and wellbeing are also taking up IBM Watson.

The first National Imaging Centre of Excellence outside the United States proves that we have
world-class expertise in healthcare and health technology.

The centres envisaged by the IBM will employ numerous Finnish top experts. Within the next
few years there will be about 150 new jobs for digital specialist, health professionals and
researchers. The centres will open up opportunities for growth for Finnish companies as well.
Tekes has reserved a total of EUR 200 million for the next five years for supporting the
companies to be created around IBM.

Collaboration may provide the Finnish SMEs with access to the international markets.

It will further consolidate the digital healthcare ecosystem in Finland and our position as a
forerunner in digital healthcare. At best this collaboration will improve Finland's international
competitiveness and attract foreign investments to Finland.

The agreement was an outcome of a persistent and systematic effort. This is the path we must
continue to follow.
We have every opportunity to turn Finland into the number one country in the world in health
technology.

This will also help us boost the stagnant growth of our economy, increase employment
opportunities, provide the patients with better care and, in general, enhance people's wellbeing.

Pivi Sillanaukee

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Permanent Secretary

Many apps may serve to effectively

shift the responsibilityfor care and monitoring from healthcare professionals to patients
themselves.
This may disadvantage patients who do not have the time, resources, or access to technology.
What kinds of patients are favored in this new dynamic, and might patients not well-equipped to
manage and maintain their own data receive substandard care?
What new roles and responsibilities do the developersof such apps take on, and how do the
ethical responsibilities of medical professionals get integrated into these differing contexts?.

The impact of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) on the automation of work was examined
for the first time in the Finnish working life barometer 2016. Approximately 15 per cent of the
respondents reported that their work had been automated either a great deal or to some extent
over the last two years.

Industrial robots have been used for a long time. Intelligent, new-generation robots have more
versatile applications in areas such as the well-being and service sectors, since they use AI, are
flexible, adaptive and mobile, and have human-like features. The rapid development of AI and
neural network technology is also enabling robots to "learn" and socially interact with people.

For the time being, researchers do not have a shared vision of how robotisation will affect the
development of working life. While routine jobs will disappear, new kinds of work and
occupational groups will emerge. Finland's well-educated workforce provides us with the
opportunity to be at the forefront of the development of robotics and AI. Furthermore, it has been
estimated that previously offshored jobs will return to Finland, since this work can be performed
more efficiently by using robots.

Not all human work can be automated. Instead, humans and robots will work side by side. The
nature of tasks will change as part of work will be done in cooperation with a robot co-worker.
These collaborative robots or cobots have been specifically developed for cooperation with
human staff. At present, a cobot requires an investment of EUR 20,00050,000, but lighter, more
affordable versions are on the way.

AI-using robots provide extraordinary growth opportunities for technologically advanced

nations. According to a report by Accenture (2016), it has been estimated that robots and AI will
enable Finland to double its annual economic growth rate by 2035. In this report, Finland ranked
second in terms of economic growth potential provided by AI, immediately after the United
States. Could smart robotics generate top-level productivity in Finland?

The use of robots can improve well-being at work

In principle, Finnish working life is good by international comparison. However, Finland

remains below the European average in terms of work intensity and the physical and social work
environment. This includes impressions of time pressure, bullying and insecurity. (Eurofound,
2016). A key factor affecting wellbeing at work is the opportunity to influence the planning and
development of one's own tasks (Ramstad, 2014). For this reason, it will be important to engage
staff at the early stages of planning, in order to ensure the successful introduction of robots. The
deployment of a robot as an assistant for strenuous work and routine tasks will free staff
resources for more meaningful, relevant and creative tasks.

The development and introduction of intelligent robots is evolving rapidly. We should discuss
future cooperation between humans and robots from various perspectives (ethical, political,
social and technological):

What will it be like to work with intelligent and social robots?

What kinds of ethical rules and regulations will be needed?
How will education, training and on-the-job learning change?
How can we prepare for the adverse effects on employment and livelihoods?
What aspects need rethinking?

Work up!

Tekes is one of the organisers of the "Work Up! A robot as a co-worker" seminar at
Kaapelitehdas, Helsinki, on 23 May 2017 from 12 noon to 3 p.m. This seminar forms part of the
Working Life 2020 project. The seminar involves presentations by and discussions with industry
experts on how the development of robots will change our jobs, on-the-job learning, the sense of
community at work, our relationship with machines and our entire view of the world. You are
welcome to come and listen and discuss robots in working life!