2.1 Current status of Smart Healthcare Ecosystem

With the transition of existing treatment-oriented healthcare area into data-based smart healthcare, paradigm of healthcare ecosystem is undergoing changes. The era of the 4th industrial revolution is emerging by being centered-around ‘data-based revolution’, with concurrent emergence of data-based industries including cloud, internet of things (IoT), big data and AI, etc. In addition, it is possible to build up healthcare big data through integrated linkage of a wide range of data including medical data (EMR), life log data (PHR) and genetic information, etc., and, as such, the smart healthcare industry can provide ‘products and services customized to individuals’ by utilizing individual’s data and information.

In spite of such changes in healthcare paradigm and global innovation environment, smart healthcare ecosystem is yet to be activated.. Since majority of the elements of the healthcare ecosystem including not only Personal Information Protection Act and Medical Service Act but also issues of privacy and healthcare data management, etc. that occur in data economy society are focused on the ‘protection of information‘, there are highly inadequate viewpoints on the utilization of information.

Moreover, although it is anticipated that the quality of life can be enhanced and welfare can be expanded, and lead economic growth by generating new growth engines through smart healthcare, foundation for advancement of the industry is yet to be established due to diversified conflicting situations including domestic and overseas medical information system being operated with medical institutes playing the core role etc.

It is urgent to ‘transparently and openly activate the environment to utilize healthcare data and information’ within the smart healthcare ecosystem in order to maximize the socioeconomic ripple effects of smart healthcare and to turn it into the growth engine of the future. In particular, activation of smart healthcare ecosystem service to encourage efficient opening, sharing and integrating data and information that are shared and utilized segmentally and linearly is urgently needed.