In the post-pandemic world, the onus seems to be on artificial intelligence (AI) to carry the healthcare sector forward. Maja Dragovic finds out how the attitudes towards AI in the sector have changed over the last 12 months. The focus on AI has definitely shifted since the pandemic, with data being seen as a tool to improve the health and care of a population in a safe, trusted and transparent way. The government's recent data strategy for health and care has set the direction for the use of data in a post-pandemic healthcare system with AI playing a significant role, especially in screening services where the technology can help scan numerous hospital images for irregularities. For Chris Scarisbrick, sales director at Sectra, an accelerator of AI use in screening was the development of the National Lung Screening pilot.

Biases in artificial intelligence will aim to be eradicated in a world first as the NHS in England trials a new approach to the ethical adoption of AI in healthcare. AIAs designed by the Ada Lovelace Institute will be piloted to support researchers and developers to assess the possible risks and biases of AI systems to patients and the public before they can access NHS data. While artificial intelligence has the potential to support health and care workers to deliver better care for people, it could also exacerbate existing health inequalities if concerns such as algorithmic bias aren't accounted for. Innovation minister Lord Kamall said: "While AI has great potential to transform health and care services, we must tackle biases which have the potential to do further harm to some populations as part of our mission to eradicate health disparities. "This pilot once again demonstrates the UK is at the forefront of adopting new technologies in a way that is ethical and patient-centred.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has opened up the second round of applications for funding under the AI in Health and Care Award programme. It said that technology companies, researchers and developers are able to bid for support in developing and testing AI and machine learning products for use in the NHS. The department indicated that it is particularly interested in applications dealing with triage, screening, imaging and intelligent operational automation. This follows the first round of awards in September, under which 42 projects won shares of £50 million from the overall budget of £140 million. First round winners set to be tested in the NHS include a phone app that could help detect early kidney disease in urine samples of diabetic patients, an algorithm that could remove the need for the second human reader to assess breast cancer screening scans, and a computer software platform that uses AI to help detect early lung cancer.

In August we were thrilled to announce a £250 million investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for health and care through the creation of the NHS AI Lab. We hope that over time this investment will enable health and care providers to benefit from the very best data-driven technology and help us achieve our goals for technology use in the NHS and in the care system. However, we also believe that people have the right to know why we think this is a worthwhile investment and how we think AI might help us achieve these goals. "Artificial Intelligence: How to get it right. The report is intended to provide a cohesive overview of the current state of play of data-driven technologies within the health and care system.

The European Commission is launching a tender for two studies to survey and analyse progress on the digital transformation of the health and care in the EU, in particular with regard to citizens' access to their electronic health records (EHR) in the EU Member States and the development, adoption and use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in the health and care sector in the EU. The call for tender includes two specific studies (i.e. The maximum amount allocated to the studies is EUR 300 000 for Lot I and EUR 200 000 for Lot II. The closing date of the call is 23 September 2019 at 15:00. The detailed tender specifications and more information about the procedure and eligibility conditions are available on TED.

This free online event will explore the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in health and care, and the benefits for patients, citizens and those delivering care. The speakers will explore different use cases for where AI could be applied, with experiences and expertise from Oxford University Hospitals Trust and Cancer Research UK. You will also hear from those who are developing AI tools, their experiences, lessons learned, and how to get started with an AI project.

Accenture will provide live demos of Ella and Ethan at the Accenture Dreamforce booth #1500, between Sept. 25 and Sept. 28. Click here to learn more about the Accenture Intelligent Patient Platform and additional AI capabilities that have been designed to enable a change in how healthcare organizations are using advanced analytics to drive unique clinical and economic value. Salesforce, Health Cloud, Einstein and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com,