Modern technology has paved its way in almost all sectors of the world. Digital technologies such as Motion UI, Data Pooling, Blockchain Technology, and Virtual and Augmented Reality are used to track and diagnose issues in health, education, finance and, the environment.
At the core of innovation, technological expertise is one of the most significant attributes nations can possess to accelerate their growth with pertinent skills and knowledge. Education and Health are often lumped together as the major components of the “social sector”. This article provides a perspective on the different rhythms set by Health and Education and their adaptability to a sustainable economy.
The objective that stands here is to highlight the purpose of such rapid technological advancements in mainly two of the primary sectors of the economy i.e., Heath and Education. There are about 19 EdTech Unicorns and 50 HealthTech Unicorns globally.
Spurred by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the adoption of digital technologies in the education and healthcare sector played a pivotal role in novel treatments available at a lower cost. The intervention of new technologies is focusing on well-equipped models to achieve global success. With the assistance of High-Performance Computing (HPC), four new supercomputers have been installed in India since July 2021- one each at IIT-Hyderabad, NABI- Mohali, CDAC-Bengaluru, and IIT Kanpur, showing widespread investment in educational technology. It is known that technology within education has opened different possibilities for optimization in households supporting accessibility, telehealth, and distance learning.
Proceeding towards leveraging advancements in Healthcare tech, Healthcare Technology Assessment is a widely accepted methodology for resourceful healthcare internationally set up by the Ministry of Health and Family welfare. As reported by the Department of Health Research India, Health technology encourages the process and finalizes the development of cost-effective interventions to streamline medical procedures. Such assessment is necessary to determine efficient pricing and procurement of medical resources, standard treatment workflows of the medical faculty, and rationalizing benefit packages for patients.
In addition to this, healthcare advancements will tackle any form of social exclusion to adopt sustainability. There has been a quantum increase in budget allocation for healthcare resources accompanied by better health awareness and rising income. The healthcare market in India is expected to reach Rs. 30 billion dollars in 2022 to exemplify the aforesaid statement, reported by financial express.
In contrast to what the healthcare segment has to offer, let’s contemplate our research on Ed-tech i.e., Educational technology advancements. Many assumptions may be inclined to conclude that Ed-tech is a student-centric sector catering to students globally. However, such suppositions might be misleading. Ed-tech uses the conventional model of “one-size-fits-all '' i.e., a model that can be used under every circumstance. It has more to offer to vary from e-learning to blockchain technology followed by artificial intelligence and gamification. The current landscape of advancements in the educational sector has expanded radically. There is a lot to digest when it comes to Ed-tech. Technology has flowed into education and renewed the teaching-learning process. From schools and colleges to corporate institutes along with government firms, Ed-tech makes it easy for all. For example, Byjus, Unacademy, Vedantu, and Upgrade, provide education to all segments of the world from high school students to housemakers and old age folks. The agenda persisting in the technological growth of education is to expand coverage across the country without compromising the quality of services provided. About 4,500 startups and a current valuation of Rs.58 billion in Indian educational technology show the overall potential for innovation as stated by Economic Times.
This tale of two preponderantly public sectors assumed to be closely associated, outweighs more significant differences in reality. There is a plausible reason for such a contrary attitude. Different ideologies persist but to keep it short and crisp, we will pin this comparison on the usage and instructional development of the topic under research.
A high degree of personalization and durability has been made possible by the growth of the health-tech industry. The outbreak of the pandemic unfolded newer opportunities in the field of health and commerce. During the past few years, India has witnessed several outbreaks of emerging/re-emerging viral infections such as Dengue, Rotavirus, Influenza, etc., along with acute episodes or threats of infiltration of new viruses such as SARS-COV, Ebola, and Yellow Fever as given by the annual report (2020-21) under Department of Health Research of India. The health-tech sector initiated the roll of approvals to enhance earlier identification and diagnosis of all viral infections. The industry has a long way to go regarding its adaptability and global enhancement.
Though the future of the Health-tech sector looks lucrative and remunerative, the reality is that the grass is rarely greener on the other side but it is always greener when you choose to water it. People have started relying on tech-backed healthcare services at a relentless rate. To make sure that such assurance and belief do not ooze off, educational technology is demanded to ease the burden from both sectors. To build efficient healthcare education software, the utility of the sectors is to be taken into consideration. The question that needs to be addressed is-In what ways such mutual interdependence will work to achieve sustainability?
The dominant explanation of such interdependence is in the form of - Telehealth/Telemedicine, a feasible way to provide care to patients with help of tech and digital services. Another way that makes it to the list is AI learning and Online education which cater to creating digital textbooks and visualised information building a digital tutor for all in need including students, doctors, and others forming the part of the medical faculty. For instance, there are several mobile applications like Pharmeasy, NetMeds, Practo, and HealthifyMe catering to the educational technology of the healthcare system. Such applications include a wide variety of features like online video consultation, medicine delivery to the doorstep, and accessibility to ask health-related queries to the doctor.
The following figure shows the expected rise in the market size of the Heath-tech education system from 2022 to 2025 concerning positive change in its assessment as given by The Journal.
Sustainability with its outstretched wings caters to all sectors of the economy. With a change in the dynamics of the health sector and education sector in terms of technological advancement, there will be a sustainable impact on the mutual contribution of the environment, society, and economy. The Healthcare system has contributed toward sustainable goals through cost-effective analysis, symbolizing transparency in the treatment process and minimizing energy use through solar panels and ventilation. Ed-tech industry on the other hand has adapted to sustainability by creating a multidisciplinary project catering to all individuals and firms to encompass subjective learning beyond classrooms systematically. Chiefly, every social arrangement should lead down to sustainability.
References:
Government of India, M. of health and family welfare. (2021-2022). Health technology assessment in India. https://dhr.gov.in/documents/annual-reports.
UN- linking schools and health. (2021, June 22). https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1094552#.
The University of California, P. A. G. (2015). Ed-tech in medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4530721/.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hello finance enthusiasts! I am Lavanya Sharma, a creative and resourceful individual exploring different aspects of the financial sphere. Hope you enjoy my take on Health tech vs Edu-tech.
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