Background

With shifting age demographics, the healthcare industry is often estimated as the next Kondratieff wave. Existing since ancient times and blessed with a never-ending customer base, this industry reigns amongst the pinnacles of scientific, regulatory and management expertise. Nevertheless, due to the extreme intricacies of different medical treatments and associated legal framework, healthcare is unfortunately burdened with extreme inefficiencies and its increasing costs might spell significant burden for modern society.

Auto-ID technologies represent approaches through which administration, management and actual performance of healthcare providing may accomplish new efficiencies, while new improvement potentials for the ever essential topics of patient safety and comfort can be reached.

In contrast to most Western markets, the Gulf States represent a growth market for the healthcare industry. Not only are local governments investing substantial monetary amounts [1] into building new hospital facilities, such as the Dubai Healthcare City, but a solid “customer base” of relatively well-off local residents and expatriates exists in these countries.

Project Aim & Output

Over the course of the project, the student will research market conditions in terms of

• Degree of present Auto-ID implementation
• Regulatory and legal environment
• Stakeholder sentiment towards Auto-ID technology
• Auto-ID provider penetration and offerings on the Gulf State market

Based on these findings, the student will determine market directions and devise a strategy on how to determine potential applications for Auto-ID technology applications in aforementioned markets.

In conclusion, the student will identify one Auto-ID application, upon which this strategy could be applied to in a subsequent project.

Project Skills & Experience

By working on the project, the student will be engaged in independent business research and will have to display networking skills and data management as well as be able to analyze and interpret his or her findings, such that an own strategy can be devised. The unique conditions of the healthcare industry (extremely low error tolerance, high degree of process intricacy) combined with the dealing with foreign, unfamiliar regulatory and professional environments can provide the student with substantial experience in internationality as well as interdisciplinarity.

Academic Project Supervision

• Prof. Dr. Gerrit Tamm
• Frank Wittig