Kontron named industry lead for CREST IoT Connected Healthcare Cluster in Malaysia

Kontron’s local R&D and worldwide IoT expertise along with global embedded computing support acknowledged as right capabilities to lead Cluster

Augsburg, Germany December 17th, 2014 – Kontron today announced that it will be the industry lead for the CREST (Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology) Connected Healthcare Cluster (CHC) in Malaysia, i.e. an initiative formed to drive relevant and far-reaching technology advancements in the application of Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare.  Driven by the Malaysian government through partnership with the CREST organization, the CHC goal is to deliver patient-centric, affordable and quality healthcare services and solutions through a collaborative technology development approach between industry and academia. Kontron volunteered to be Cluster lead due to its substantial local R&D presence, the company’s global embedded computing market leadership in medical equipment industry, and alignment of the company’s strategic directions.  Malaysian government has recognized the roles of CREST and Kontron for their contributions in the National Internet of Things Blueprint of healthcare.  As Cluster leader, Kontron works closely with CREST to support other cluster members for successful implementation of CHC’s objectives.  The technical knowledge sharing and idea exchanges within the Cluster will inadvertently encourage IoT innovation and bring positive impacts to the country's economic and social development; as well as setting the stage for additional IoT research, technology implementations and commercialization.
 
“The establishment of Connected Healthcare Cluster, is in-line with CREST’s Phase II strategy to shift focus into cluster development in targeted technology area such as IoT. This CHC initiative not only provides Malaysian companies the opportunity to develop IoT solutions that have tremendous economic potentials and competitive benefits in the global healthcare market, it also demonstrates Malaysia’s commitment in establishing a platform for the country to be a key player in the world’s IoT community,” said CREST by Jaffri Ibrahim, CEO of CREST.  “Kontron‘s commitment in taking the first step of making available its IoT Healthcare development tools and evaluation kits for the cluster members to develop solutions with open connectivity demonstrates how multinational companies can play their role to nurture the local R&D ecosystem. This would certainly jump start and initiate the prototype and product development activities for the local companies. On the other end, Kontron’s open development tools and platform would further attract university students to develop interoperable IoT solutions for the healthcare market”
 
“Kontron is perfectly matched to take the role of Cluster lead.  As one of the embedded industry’s most comprehensive computing solutions suppliers, we keenly understand that it takes more than one company to build IoT and there is no single solution that can be imagined to fit all IoT requirements. Transforming separate silos of devices and information, plus detached companies into an IoT ecosystem on a global scale mandates thoughtful and educated collaboration,” explained Michael Väth, executive vice president global sales & marketing at Kontron.  “This collective knowledge will pave the way to make informed decisions for the types of new or upgraded applications that will be needed.  Our existing experience allows us to solve varied application objectives and design phase challenges with a modular to monolithic approach so that developers can ultimately meet virtually any time-to-market or investment goal.”
 
“Kontron is able to leverage the company’s extensive open-standards platform know-how in order to facilitate a successful CHC solution. This knowledge allows us to more quickly establish a relevant use case result in our Penang R&D facility enabling Cluster members to witness how IoT technology can benefit healthcare systems and ultimately patient care,” said Jens Wiegand, CTO at Kontron.  “Once we ensure the Cluster team’s concepts are proven, the IoT connected solutions developed are also instrumental in helping to create a sustainable healthcare technology ecosystem locally that can be rolled out internationally as well.”
 
To learn more about Kontron in IoT, visit iot.kontron.com.
 
About the CREST Connected Healthcare Cluster (CHC) initiative
The CREST Connected Healthcare Cluster (CHC) was formed in April 2014 to focus on the application of wearable embedded systems, Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices technology; and the successful commercialization of healthcare products, solutions and services by the Electrical & Electronic industry. Led by various technology industry companies and supported by academia and government, flexible wearable embedded systems and connected devices are poised to advance Malaysia’s healthcare industry into the next plateau while opening up new opportunities globally. Devices that are capable of monitoring all users’ health vital signs in real-time by healthcare providers and medical professionals anywhere, anytime are expected to become the norm. This created a reservoir of local and global market demand and opportunities to connect smart IoT medical devices that are capable of monitoring the condition and well-being of the device users.  
 
 
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About CREST
CREST (Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology) is an Industry-led catalyst and change agent that drives the growth of Malaysia’s E&E industry.  CREST focuses on creating a vibrant R&D ecosystem by promoting collaboration between the Industry and Academia in R&D initiatives, with strong support from the relevant Government organizations.
 
About Kontron
Kontron is a global leader in embedded computing technology. With more than 44% of its employees in research and development, Kontron creates many of the standards that drive the world’s embedded computing platforms. Kontron’s product longevity, local engineering and support, and value-added services, help create a sustainable and viable embedded solution for OEMs and system integrators. Kontron works closely with its customers on their embedded application-ready platforms and custom solutions, enabling them to focus on their core competencies. The result is an accelerated time-to-market, reduced total-cost-of-ownership and an improved overall application with leading-edge, highly-reliable embedded technology.
 
Kontron is listed on the German TecDAX stock exchange under the symbol "KBC". For more information, please visit: http://www.kontron.com/
 
 
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