AI3C: Accelerating AI innovation in the healthcare industry

Leading US health, educational, and research organisations have come together with the creation of a group aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence innovation and adoption in healthcare, Microsoft has announced.

The Artificial Intelligence Industry Innovation Coalition (AI3C) will leverage the collective knowledge and expertise of the Brookings Institution, Cleveland Clinic, Duke Health, Intermountain Healthcare, Microsoft, Novant Health, Plug and Play, Providence, UC San Diego, and University of Virginia.

Showcasing emerging AI tools 

The AI3C board includes volunteer senior executives acting as advisors, who will work to co-create AI solutions for positive societal and healthcare outcomes, identify and set the AI strategy and vision for a variety of projects, and track the success of AI adoption in the industry.

Each member organisation has nominated its own AI ambassadors to serve as regional leads and drive programmes.

The AI3C intends to apply AI to resolve significant challenges in business such as:

• General economic and industrial challenges – including research transfer, industry standards and funding instruments
• Digital skills and employability – including organisational and cultural challenges, as well as labour policies
• Data privacy – including data access and shared innovation

Overall, the AI3C objectives are to accelerate AI innovation and adoption by:

• Showcasing emerging AI tools
• Gathering industry-specific AI use cases, best practices and research feedback
• Transforming the AI workforce
• Preparing students for careers in AI and data science

“The goal of the newly created AI3C is to establish a pragmatic coalition with public and private organisations to advance health by identifying and addressing significant societal and industry barriers,” said Patty Obermaier, vice president, US Health and Life Sciences, Microsoft. “I am excited about the launch of AI3C and working with its distinguished board as we continue the momentum toward serving the needs of patients and communities through AI innovation.”

Solving challenges of AI adoption 

AI3C members will focus on providing a comprehensive programme for responsible AI education and upskilling, in order to achieve these goals. Moreover, the AI3C will engage with the healthcare community through white papers, new tools and programmes, and social media outreach to make AI more applicable and impactful. The coalition will host quarterly meetings and events to transparently communicate the resolution and progress of solving key challenges through AI adoption.

Details about the coalition’s programmes and its impact will be available later this year. The AI3C follows in the footsteps of the National Coalition for Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services, which was launched in December 2020.

“Meeting the urgent need for new health technologies requires diverse partners coming together across sectors. With perspectives from AI practitioners, healthcare professionals and the research community, the AI3C can guide collaborative projects that accelerate the translation of frontier technologies from research to solution development, to implementation,” said Ashley Llorens, vice president and managing director, Microsoft Research and Incubations.