Finland partners IBM to utilize Watson Cognitive Computing

Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation and IBM has announced a partnership that will enable Finland to utilize Watson Cognitive Computing to help doctors improve the health of its citizens.

To facilitate the collaboration, IBM intends to establish a Watson Health Center of Excellence in Finland, the first Nordic Healthcare Competence Center, and the first National Imaging Center of Excellence outside the United States in Finland. These centers are expected to employ 150 people over the next few years.

Tekes anticipates this landmark collaboration with IBM will create data-driven cognitive computing applications and solutions and it will lead to an expansion and growth of Finland’s business and innovation ecosystem.

Specifically, Tekes expects the partnership to accelerate creation of new start-up companies in Finland, gain new opportunities for Finland companies for global growth, and help to digitalize the country’s healthcare business sector for companies of all sizes.

Pekka Soini, director general, Tekes said, "I am positive that Watson cognitive computing capabilities will further boost innovation in Finland and put Finland at the forefront of game-changing health transformation, at the European level and in the global marketplace."

Anssi Pulkkinen, strategic head, Well-being and Health, Tekes said, "Cognitive technologies, like IBM's Watson, will enable a new management design and systemic control of healthcare. Tekes' vision is an open healthcare ecosystem based on compliant and efficient utilization of healthcare data, making our hospitals the world's most advanced data-led IoT hospitals."

Finnish doctors and researchers will work with Watson Health data scientists, engineers, researchers and designers to develop a new generation of data-driven healthcare applications and solutions, advancing R&D and innovation in Finland.

"Finland was selected as a destination country to implement various Watson health capabilities, including the Watson Health Cloud, based on the country’s vision to restructure and digitalize its healthcare system, its tech-savvy citizens and mobile capabilities, and a social environment that supports a culture of health," said Deborah DiSanzo, general manager, Watson Health, IBM.