OKI and ARC Innovation Center at Sheba (Sheba), the largest medical facility in the Middle East, have agreed to pursue research on the prevention of dementia, aiming at a society in which the elderly can remain active according to their health with a ‘Very Accurate Health Score’ (*1) from the results of this research.
The agreement was concluded on January 15 in the presence of the Japan’s Economic Minister Hiroshige Seko and Israel’s Economic Minister Eli Cohen at the Japan-Israel Business Forum, organized by the economic ministries of Japan and Israel.
With this agreement, Sheba will work with OKI to demonstrate the effectiveness of prevention for the risk factors of dementia by using novel approach. Sheba and OKI are also planning to conduct research in the future to analyze the relationship between big health data and measuring the quality of walking. In these studies, OKI is looking toward global application in the future by leveraging the data of various ethnicities in Israel.
Israel has many startup companies based on advanced state-of-the-art technologies, more recently focusing on the field of digital healthcare. Sheba is also actively involved in innovation research that leverages the health examination data and medical receipt data for large numbers of patients. OKI has been strengthening its relationship with digital health-related organizations in Israel, holding a seminar in Japan for representatives of four Israeli institutions, including Sheba, on July 31 of last year.
OKI promotes ‘Yume Pro'(*2) activities to discover business opportunities and create innovation from social issues raised by SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) laid out by the United Nations. Leveraging on IoT related technologies, OKI is focusing on reducing noninfectious diseases such as diabetes and dementia through presymptomatic treatment or prevention before the onset of illness, striving to realize a society in which the elderly can remain active and flourish.
OKI provides a ‘Very Accurate Health Score’ to encourage daily activities such as ‘walking’ ‘sleeping’ and ‘eating’ in the prevention of noninfectious diseases. In scoring health conditions, OKI plans to develop new services for the elderly which, according to health scores, will allow users to access various services currently restricted by ‘actual age’, including mortgages, life insurance, and property insurance. OKI is striving to address the challenges of a super-aging society, said to be facing Japan first, and to realize ‘a society of healthy longevity’.
