The Presidency of Health Institutes of Turkey published the Regulation on the Structure and Execution of the Activities of the Turkish Institute of Health Data Research and Artificial Intelligence Applications ("Regulation"). The Regulation sets forth important issues such as the duties and authorities of the Turkish Institute of Health Data Research and Artificial Intelligence Applications ("Institute").
New Development
The Institute was established on 12 December 2019 to support innovative R&D activities with the aim of solving health-related problems and increasing the efficiency of healthcare services. Within this context, the Institute operates to support and coordinate studies on health data research, the use of artificial intelligence in the field of health and develop a digital health ecosystem in Turkey. The Institute was established under the Presidency of Turkish Health Institutes, the relevant institution of the Ministry of Health. All stakeholders and especially companies that operate in this field should closely follow the activities and opportunities offered by the Institute.
The Regulation, which entered into force upon publication in the Official Gazette No. 31776 on 12 March 2022, regulates the establishment, duties, authorities, structuring and units of the Institute. The Regulation is available here (in Turkish).
What's New?
The main duties and authorities of the Institute are as follows:
- Increasing the use of health data and artificial intelligence in Turkey; conducting and supporting scientific and technological research in this context
- Supporting research conducted in public institutions, higher education institutions or R&D centers for the development of laboratory examinations, radiological and pathological images
- Establishing the necessary infrastructure for storage and management of reference information regarding clinical data and radiological images, making them accessible to researchers upon anonymization, and creating a digital health ecosystem
- Providing financial or scientific support to R&D activities to be carried out by public institutions, organizations, private legal entities and real persons on the use of artificial intelligence and health data; coordinating and monitoring these studies
- Collaborating with relevant sectors in order to ensure that data and artificial intelligence-based techniques developed as a result of R&D studies are used in the field of health and providing grants and reimbursed supports, and/or making prepayments
- Cooperating with the Turkish Health Services Quality and Accreditation Institute in determining the quality and accreditation rules of centers operating in the field of health data research and artificial intelligence
- Organizing competitions, issuing certificates and providing domestic and international opportunities to researchers in order to encourage R&D studies
- Publishing and preparing publications of international institutions and organizations and determining priority policies in the field of health data research and artificial intelligence
Conclusion
As in every sector, the importance of scientific and technological activities is increasing day by day also for the health sector. In this context, the establishment of the Institute aims to support data-based studies and artificial intelligence research in the healthcare sector. All companies operating in this field should closely follow the activities of the Institute.
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