An MoU was signed between Society for Applied, Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) and the government of Andhra Pradesh for conducting joint and comprehensive assessment of health technologies which is scheduled to start with Dual Energy Linear Accelerator for cancer care development on the sidelines of  Medical Electronics Innovation Summit 2016 (MEIS 2016) at IIT Powai in Mumbai recently.

SAMEER is a research and development laboratory of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, mandated to contribute towards the growth of science and Technology of RF/Microwave electronics, Electromagnetic Interference/Compatibilty (EMI/EMC) and allied areas through intensive research, design, development and industrial applications.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched the first edition of the Medical Electronics Innovation Summit 2016 at IIT Powai in Mumbai recently. The summit was inaugurated by by Ravi Shankar Prasad, minister of electronics and information technology, government of India, P P Chaudhary, minister of state for electronics and information technology along with Kamineni Srinivas, minister for health, government of Andhra Pradesh.

With India’s medical electronics market growing to $11.7 billion by 2017, the summit witnessed a panel discussion on the scope of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the healthcare sector, especially with opening up of 100 per cent FDI for manufacturing of medical devices in India last year. Highlight of the event was a panel discussion on creating integrated healthcare model, wherein the key speakers spoke about integrating the entire eco-system of healthcare models in such a way so as to benefit the patients to get easier access to healthcare services, diagnosis, insurance claims etc.

The integrated healthcare model is an initiative by the government of India to bring together all the aspects of the healthcare sector to improve the methodology of the system. Top professors, researchers and experts from various key institute and colleagues spoke about the process innovation in healthcare services – developing a sustainable model for accessible and affordable service through innovation. The day ended with power topic on capacity building and infrastructure management for technology driven medical electronics in India.

The conference also presented five start-up companies from the healthcare sector pitching in their idea for it’s Start Up Pitch Deck to a 3-member jury panel which comprising of Aditya Nataraja, Manager, IIT Patna Incubation Center, Prof. Milind Atre, SINE, IIT Bombay and Neel Bhatia, Director – Innovation and IP Ecosystem Development, Intel Technology India. The results for the presentations would be out on the second day of the Summit i.e., September 23, 2016.

Present at the inauguration were dignitaries - Aruna Sundararajan, secretary, ministry of electronics and information technology, Dr Omkar Rai, Director-General, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Sivan Menon, chief technology officer, GE Digital, Dr Rajendra Patankar, MD, chief operating officer, Nanavati Hospital, Sulabha Ranade, Director, SAMEER. The summit was attended by medical directors, key decision makers, medical information officers, technology specialists, researchers etc from the healthcare sector.

The Medical Electronics Innovation Summit 2016 proved to be an excellent platform to showcase and discuss various ideas to improve the healthcare system and increase accessibility to medical devices in the country. With the increased awareness for healthcare system among the masses, the government of India is taking appropriate steps for the improvement the sector.

Ministry of electronics & information technology, under Government of India is a ministry department dedicated to the development of technology and electronics growth in India. With the vision of e-Development of India as the engine for transition into a developed nation and an empowered society, MeitY’s main objective is to promote e-Governance for empowering citizens, promoting the inclusive and sustainable growth of the Electronics, IT & ITeS industries, enhancing India’s role in internet governance, adopting a multi-pronged approach that includes development of human resources, promoting R&D and innovation, enhancing efficiency through digital services and ensuring a secure cyber space.