Talk Title: Building Digital Health Ecosystem to Achieve Universal Health Coverage

Khondaker A. Mamun received his Ph.D. in Computer and Biomedical Engineering from University of Southampton, UK. After that he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. Currently he is a Professor of Data Science and Digital Health at the United International University (UIU), Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prof. Mamun is the Founder and Director of AIMS Lab (www.aimsl.uiu.ac.bd) at UIU, where his team actively performs R&D on the applications of 4IR technologies like, artificial intelligence, big data and internet of things in large scale intelligent system, healthcare, disabilities, education and brain computer interface (BCI). He established Bangladesh’s first BCI lab at UIU. Recently, Prof. Mamun established Institute of Research Innovation, Incubation and Commercialization (IRIIC) at UIU. He has published more than 200 articles and holds patients. He has invented and implemented a number of intelligent systems, digital healthcare and rehabilitations service delivery model and mobile based solutions for Bangladesh. His research and innovation have also been featured in a local and international news, also recognized internationally and by the government of Bangladesh. He received National Award from Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for his contribution to Autism. In 2022, Prof. Mamun presented “Digital Bangladesh Award 2022” for his significant contribution for building Digital Bangladesh by Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.   
 
Prof. Mamun is the founder of CMED Health (www.cmed.com.bd), a university research to commercialization that are working to create health inclusion for UHC through digital health ecosystem. CMED Health is currently serving over 2.5 million people in Bangladesh. He contributed to introduce first Deep Brain Stimulation surgery for Parkinson’s patients in Bangladesh in collaboration with NINS and Prof. Tipu Z. Aziz, University of Oxford, UK. Prof. Mamun is the member WHO/ITU Focus Group on AI for Health, Digital Health Strategy 2020-2025 for the GoB, MTR of 4th HPNSP, MOHFW; Innovation Ecosystem Development, Hi-Tech Park, ICT Division; Industry Accademia Collaboration, UGC, MOE. He contributed to design and implement digital GP model with referrals for urban and rural areas of Bangladesh. He is also worked as a consultant for WHO, Unicef, ADB and World Bank on digital system design and implementation. His team also awarded innovation grants for BMGF and other agencies.

Healthcare is a basic need of humans. However, it is one of the biggest challenges in Bangladesh and many developing countries, where many people are not getting good healthcare due to lack of infrastructure, systems and resources. On the other hand, healthcare is about to enter a period of rapid transformation by utilizing Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. Longevity and the advance of new technologies and discoveries – as well as innovative combinations of existing ones – are among the many factors pushing patient empowerment, which is fundamentally changing how we prevent, diagnose and cure diseases. Rapid growth of digital technology plays a big role in the healthcare system and helps to predict future health consequences and utilize preventive measures to protect it and improve quality of living. The Digital Health Ecosystem triggered by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres. The potential for merging physical, digital and biological systems certainly has far-reaching potential for healthcare provision. The talk will discuss the way forward of building Digital Health Ecosystem towards Smart Bangladesh. It also discusses the implementation experience of Digital Health Inclusion that is transforming the healthcare landscape in Bangladesh using comprehensive multi-layered scalable digital healthcare platform by connecting people with health services, early diagnosis, health education & referrals for intervention to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).