Mr. Ichiro Kurihara, President, NEC Thailand, said, "We are delighted to expand on our earlier trial with a local nursing home in Chiang Mai to one that involves the municipality. Thailand needs to evolve its healthcare system to manage the effects of an ageing population, and we are glad to take the first step together with the local authorities to develop a digital health platform in three key phases for patients in Chiang Mai."

As the appointed technology partner in the collaboration with Chiang Mai Municipality, NEC and participating healthcare providers will deploy IoT devices in the facilities in the collaboration for the first phase. They will also deploy an app that will notify caregivers and patients' relatives in case of emergencies, such as a fall or when a patient feels extremely unwell.

In the second phase, NEC will further support caregivers with an application that allows for remote health monitoring through cloud-based systems. The application will also allow patients to manage their appointments and medication requests. This will have a huge improvement in reducing the workload of healthcare assistants.

Lastly, NEC will also support Chiang Mai Municipality in facilitating Tele-Medicine services by allowing patients to receive diagnoses and consultations on mild illnesses or follow-up treatments with doctors from the comforts of their home.

Mr Kurihara added, "This partnership marks a significant milestone in NEC's vision of creating sustainable societies empowered by technology. We have identified healthcare as a key focus area where Thailand needs significant improvements to manage the effects of an ageing population. With the digital platform for Chiang Mai's healthcare system in phase one, we aim to enhance access to quality medical services and improve the overall well-being of residents. We are excited by this collaboration, and look forward to working closely with Chiang Mai Municipality to shape the future of Chiang Mai."