SINGAPORE — The National University Health System (NUHS), Singtel and Ericsson today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), reinforcing their commitment to a strategic partnership to advance connected healthcare, 5G-Advanced and 6G technology, as well as connected intelligence.
The collaboration will focus on research and development, harnessing successive generations of telecommunications and artificial intelligence technology to deliver deployable healthcare applications. NUHS will provide clinical, academic and research leadership; Ericsson will contribute expertise in mobile network technologies, network architecture and future 6G research; and Singtel will contribute expertise in advanced network deployment and services.
As part of the collaboration, Singtel and Ericsson will be founding partners of NUHS’ newly established National University XG AI Centre (NXAC), which will serve as a platform for developing and translating network-enabled healthcare applications.
NXAC will bring together healthcare, telecommunications and technology expertise. The name “XG” reflects the Centre’s longer-term ambition to span successive generations of network technology, from 5G today towards 6G and beyond.
NXAC will be the world’s first 6G AI centre dedicated to healthcare, as well as Singapore’s first translational research and development centre, which aims to serve the global healthcare community. It will provide a platform for industry experts and healthcare professionals to co-develop and validate applications using next-generation network infrastructure and AI technologies.
Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, Chief Executive, NUHS, said: “Our interest in advanced networks and AI lies in what they can do for our patients across our 14 entities, and the healthcare professionals who care for them. By bringing together clinical and industry expertise, we hope to harness future generations of telecommunications technology into practical healthcare applications. These range from autonomous mobile robots supporting hospital logistics and patient care, to connected mobile devices that extend care into the home, AI-enabled intelligent fabric for the healthcare industry, and human augmentation for advanced surgeries.”
NXAC will support the translation of emerging technologies from research into real-world healthcare use. As a testbed, it will enable its team and industry partners to work alongside clinicians, nurses and operations teams to develop and evaluate technologies in a working hospital environment.
The collaboration will grow capabilities at the intersection of healthcare, telecommunications, AI and robotics. This will include joint training programmes, fellowships, internships and clinician-engineer collaborations, bringing healthcare and technology expertise closer. Additionally, the partners intend to jointly pursue public research and innovation funding, including the establishment of a corporate laboratory or equivalent industry-public research programme hosted by NUHS and undertaken through NXAC.
Mr Ng Tian Chong, Chief Executive Officer, Singtel Singapore, said: “As Singapore prepares for a rapidly ageing population and increasingly complex healthcare needs, we have an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how care is delivered with technology. Singtel is proud to bring our advanced network and digital capabilities to help realise NUHS’ vision of an intelligent, trusted and borderless healthcare system – one that empowers healthcare professionals and enables more Singaporeans to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.”
Mr Daniel Ode, Head of Ericsson Singapore, Brunei and Philippines and Global Customer Unit Singtel, said: “Next-generation healthcare applications such as robotic surgery, holomedicine, and remote monitoring demand deterministic network performance that cannot be compromised. Through NXAC, Ericsson is proud to partner with Singtel and NUHS, contributing our global R&D and advanced network capabilities to translate innovation into clinical practice. By elevating clinical care standards and augmenting frontline clinical teams, we are further reinforcing Singapore's global leadership as the benchmark for the AI-native hospital.”
Through NXAC, NUHS aims to enable a future for proactive, personalised and continuous care, extending from the hospital into patients’ homes and communities. Connected wearables could support continuous monitoring and preventive care beyond the hospital, while ambient AI and contactless sensing could help care teams better understand patients’ conditions and identify potential risks.
Within hospitals, autonomous robotics could support logistics, medication delivery and patient support, while spatial intelligence and smarter facilities could improve the way hospitals manage their people, assets and infrastructure. Extended-reality technologies could also support robot-assisted surgery, holographic guidance, clinical training and remote specialist collaboration.
Together, these capabilities point towards a healthcare environment where technology works increasingly in the background to support clinical teams, make hospital operations more responsive, and maintain continuity of care across different settings.
NXAC plans to spearhead initiatives built on the potential of emerging technologies, first supported by 5G and 5G-Advanced capabilities, with the programme designed to evolve towards early 6G.
Areas of development include:
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