University of Johannesburg: University of Johannesburg and I-DAIR collaboration set to advance the health sector in the 4IR sphere

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) recently signed a strategic agreement with Fondation pour l’institut de hautes études internationales et du développement acting through The International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) who are based in Geneva, Switzerland. Both UJ and I-DAIR have a common interest in contributing to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal #3 on Good Health and Wellbeing and intend on collaborating and cooperating in activities and programmes which contribute to this UN goal.

To this end, UJ will be the South African Hub Lead and will convene a consortium for an I-DAIR hub in South Africa. The hub is intended to serve as a magnet for young researchers working in the areas of digital health and artificial intelligence (AI) for health. Furthermore, the hub would also act as a regional centre of excellence for research and capacity development.

“We are proud to partner with I-DAIR to contribute to the success of UN Sustainable Goal #3 and are certain that our strategic partnership will lead to other groundbreaking research in the areas of digital health and AI for health,” said Prof Rodny-Gumede, Senior Director for the Division for Internationalisation, UJ.

Prof Babu Paul, Director: Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS) and an expert in artificial intelligence at UJ as well as Prof Habib Noorbhai, Co-Director of the Biomedical Engineering and Healthcare Technology (BEAHT) Research Centre and expert in Health sciences at UJ, are key drivers of the agreement which is aligned to UJ’s position as the driving force of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on the continent.

“UJ and I-DAIR are both driving forces in the areas of artificial intelligence and digital health, and our shared commitment to improve global health and wellbeing using advances in technology provide a strong platform for a successful partnership,” said Prof Babu Paul.

“Change is inevitable. Healthcare has evolved and adapted through the electronic ages. It is only a matter of time before health adopts changes through the digital age. Now is as good a time as any to streamline and adopt such standards for the upliftment of sustainable healthcare through AI in the 4IR,” said Prof Habib Noorbhai.