Philips Launches Blockchain Lab To Spur Innovation Within Healthcare Industry
While Fintech has had most of the limelight when it comes to controlling the future revolutionary applications of blockchain technology, there are still several massive industries ripe for disruption that will potentially be able to use blockchain for their business models. In an effort to jump-start that process in the healthcare industry, Philips has launched a “blockchain lab” to explore the potential usage of the blockchain in connected healthcare.
In their headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Philips will be offering a dedicated space for Philips IT experts, healthcare professionals, partners and blockchain developers to work together on this research.
Over the coming months and years, Philips plans to actively recruit for blockchain developers and experts for this cutting edge product to ensure that the potential use cases and business applications dreamed up within this lab space are practical and scalable in a real-world environment.
As a company committed to innovation you need to constantly explore new and emerging technologies and their application in areas where they might have an impact and added value,” says Arno Laeven, initiator and Head of the Philips Blockchain Lab.
Our aim is to learn if blockchain technology could potentially add value to the process of data exchange in the healthcare industry.
With their three primary divisions being in healthcare, electronics and lighting, Philips is a huge company and could make some massive progress in the research and implementation of distributed ledger technology in the healthcare sector if done properly with even a tiny percentage of their 21 billion Euro revenue figures. It will be exciting to see what other healthcare heavyweights decide to throw some effort behind who can be the first to capitalize on this new technology in an industry that is plagued by business inefficiencies.
Without a doubt, companies like CVS Health, McKesson and UnitedGroup Health would be well served to not wait too long on the sidelines while Philips does the heavy lifting and invest some money into blockchain research as soon as possible.
