“Use and Benefits of Global Infrastructure of Innovation Think Tank, Siemens Healthineers to Address Healthcare Needs” Online Lecture by Sultan Haider

Sultan Haider, Founder and Head of the Innovation Think Tank at Siemens Healthineers GmbH gave an online lecture entitled “Use and Benefits of Global Infrastructure of Innovation Think Tank, Siemens Healthineers to Address Healthcare Needs” to UofSC students enrolled in ITEC 752, Systems Analysis and Design of Healthcare Applications and ITEC 745 Telecommunications for Health Information Technologies courses on November 26^th, 2019.

During the online lecture, UofSC students had an opportunity to hear about the Innovation Think Tank Approach and structure developed by Prof. Haider at Siemens Healthineers GmbH. Prof. Haider presented Siemens Healthineers’ ITT’s structure and its approach to innovation. The ITT approach has been used in Siemens’ various labs and programs for project implementations accelerating innovation cycles and bringing significant cost savings. The ITT Approach addresses seven essentials: 1) Problem identification in an observation; 2) The root cause analysis; 3) Identifying interdependencies; 4) Stakeholder engagement; 5) Big picture creation; 6) Conceptualization via trans-disciplinary expertise; 7) Decision proposition creation and 7) Implementation cycles optimization.

Sultan Haider provided a unique opportunity for students to see Innovation in action, discussing real-world projects and answering student questions about the process of design. “What a great chance to actually see what is going on in a real lab, building real solutions. This is the type of experience I was hoping to learn from when I first started my Master’s program,” said Akshayaa Viswanathan, one of the ITEC 747 students. Professor Sultan described key issues with addressing healthcare needs as well as best practice examples. Some of the Professor’s insights and best practices examples included how ITT at Siemens Healthineers has grown and made an impact at Siemens through various healthcare innovation projects using its global reach and infrastructure. Over 250 product definitions, R&D, and open innovation projects per year are worked on annually in ITT’s global infrastructure.

The online lecture was an important part of the UofSC Innovation Think Tank (ITT) Lab’s annual activities with students and faculty. The UofSC ITT Lab is the first Innovation Think Tank Lab affiliated with a U.S. university, as part of Siemens Healthineers’ global network of Innovation Think Tank Labs. Siemens Healthineers’ ITT Lab Founder and Director Sultan Haider, who is also affiliated with the College of Engineering and Computing as an Adjunct Professor and helped with the successful implementation of the ITT Lab. Thanks to the UofSC ITT Lab’s affiliation with Siemens Healthineers’ global ITT infrastructure worldwide, the participants are able to share knowhow with other ITT members and participate at its various locations in Germany, the U.K., China, Turkey, India, and the U.S. This global network allows participants to collaborate with other innovators worldwide.

The ITT at Siemens Healthineers offers annually 150 Innovation Think Tank Fellowships and learning programs to over 250 participants via its open innovation programs worldwide. Driven by the need for interdisciplinary, self-sustaining infrastructures accessible for the entire location/company, ITT was established and has now 16 innovation labs across Germany, China, India, Turkey, the United States of America and United Kingdom which are covering projects from 23 Siemens locations.