ABSTRACT
Technology has changed the face of almost every sphere of life including the healthcare system which was erstwhile considered a subject of pure clinical evaluation. The onset of the Covid 19 pandemic underscored adaptation to technology as the singular solution to address the banes of the huge number of people afflicted with it globally with limited healthcare workers and resources. The opening of a small healthcare centre in the Al Ras region marked the beginning of healthcare in Dubai. The healthcare system of the UAE has grown exponentially over the years, and it now offers a variety of specialized services that sets it apart from the others. The UAE healthcare industry is increasingly improving to meet the changing needs of its people as well as the country's goal to become a regional medical tourism hub. The government is implementing several long-term projects to achieve balanced growth and to incorporate sustainable growth in the industry while meeting the immediate needs of the population. Comprehensive health-care reforms have been enacted over the last ten years. This paper examines the development and results of Health-Care reforms in the UAE using primary data collected by conducting a survey in a prominent health organization in the UAE. The main aim of the survey was to study the impact of digitalization on the healthcare sector in the UAE. The case in point was the influence of digitalized measures including Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in handling the Covid-19 situation from the point of view of the healthcare sector employees. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Everyday, the exponential rise in the number of patients of Covid-19 being admitted to hospitals have put pressure on the hospital staff. Due to the highly contagious nature of the virus, the hospital staff face a constant risk of getting infected as they are in direct contact with the patients. To help reduce their workload, and to reduce the contact time between the staff and patients, the 'Xenia: The Medi-Assist Robot' is designed in this research study. To accomplish this, this novel robot delivers food and medicine trays to the patient's bed and autonomously sanitizes wards after they are vacated. Obstacle avoidance and path planning was implemented with MATLAB-SIMULINK software. For realistic modelling, ROS based simulator Gazebo was used by creating virtual environment of hospital corridors. The Computer Aided Design (CAD) model of the robot had successfully followed virtual path containing waypoints for both the processes i.e. food tray delivery and sanitization. As a result of this research, it is expected that the Medi-Assist robot would be suitable to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in Hospitals and strengthen the health infrastructure of the country. © 2021 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Technology-enabled remote learning ecosystem is one of the several recent products of the intertwining of information technology and education. This study identifies the issues and challenges of the rapid and sudden transition of Higher Educational Institutions from face to face learning to technology intervened remote learning in India. The main objective of the study is to investigate the implications of online examinations necessitated by this rapid transition to remote learning that lacked the usual planning, design and structure, training, infrastructure, and access to technological resources. This transition, aimed at maintaining the educational delivery continuum in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforces the belief in technology as the pre-eminent solution regardless of its pervasive challenges and implications. A sizeable population in developing countries like India lack equal access to minimal enabling resources and technical know-how to keep pace with the transition. Data collected for this study using surveys and interviews from final semester undergraduate students who undertook remote lessons and technology intervened online examinations for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic at a technical university in India was indicative of the same. The findings of this research revealed that a considerable number of students lack access to individualized facilities, resources, and a conducive environment at home, required to avail digital assets for their education, which deter the fair and efficient implementation of online examinations in the digital present. The results of this study further showed, how, unequal educational opportunities arising out of inefficient implementation, disadvantage a significant group of students, from primarily weaker economic backgrounds of society. This study has practical implications since it raises seminal concerns regarding sudden transition to remote and online modes of learning and examination, which need to be addressed to avoid jeopardizing the future of students, should sudden online education become imperative again. © 2020 IEEE.