Sustainability through health and energy

6GESS

6G Enabling Sustainable Society

The 6G-enabled sustainable society (6GESS) programme capitalises on 6G Flagship’s technological expertise to develop the scientific framework for a data-driven, hyper-connected future society in which digital eHealth and future energy systems are intertwined. 6GESS looks into new technologies to help make healthcare and energy systems more democratic and efficient in the future. It also helps healthcare and energy providers and citizens become more involved in developing and using data-driven and digitised solutions.

6GESS is a collaborative endeavour of four faculties: Medicine, ITEE, Technology, and Oulu Business School. 6GESS works closely with the OuluHealth ecosystem, the Oulu University Hospital, and the Future Hospital 2030 project.

6G Enabling Sustainable Society

Health Research Themes

6GESS-1

Citizen-centered health data solutions

We must rethink healthcare to make it more sustainable, intelligent, citizen-centred, proactive, and predictive in the future. 6GESS-1 investigates how the rapid advancement of digital technology and data science might provide people with new ways to care for their health and manage their lives based on the most recent facts.

The objectives of this theme are to:

Improve a person’s health, help them take better care of
themselves, and find new ways to use health data, find new ways to manage personal health data.
Investigate how people share their personal data and how the government regulates it. People should be able to use data-driven, AI-enabled services quickly and ethically.
Create new approaches in developing preventive and
predictive, personalised digital processes, business solutions,
business models and strategies.
Evaluate the impact of citizen-generated health data on a
person’s health, lifestyles, and adherence to self-care and the health care systems.

Contact

Theme Leaders

Maritta Perälä-Heape
maritta.perala-heape@oulu.fi

Petri Ahokangas
petri.ahokangas@oulu.fi

6GESS-2

Ubiquitous digital care pathways and service models in secure and intelligent environments

The aim of 6GESS-2 is to develop advanced digital care pathways between patients and primary care, hospitals, and virtual healthcare services, allowing for more efficient participation and extended communication with patients and healthcare professionals on multiple levels while improving the security, privacy, and trust, as well as the quality and reliability of various smart environments, digital applications, and healthcare services.

The objectives of this theme are to:

Investigate novel digital services for information management in preventive healthcare that can improve a person’s health, promote self-care, improve healthcare efficiency and effectiveness, and generate new value.
Identify new opportunities and outcomes from secure digital care pathways, service models, and novel healthcare technology.
Leverage technologies for information flows in healthcare
systems that are secure, accurate, and dependable.

Contact

Theme Leaders

Matti Hämäläinen
matti.hamalainen@oulu.fi

Miia Turpeinen
miia.turpeinen@oulu.fi

6GESS-3

Future AI-tailored wireless hospital

The 6GESS-3 theme is devoted to advanced digital solutions for clinical applications (diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up methods) in the future intelligent hospital, which are achieved through edge computing, machine learning, impact analysis, and health technology assessment techniques.

The objectives of this theme are to:

Enable precision medicine and advanced therapies based on AI-augmented diagnostics and instantaneous point-of-care health information delivery.
Identify opportunities and outcomes of digital care paths,
service models, and novel healthcare technology.
Ensure trust and privacy for future virtual health services.-
Use 5G/6G technologies to improve the timeliness of
information flows.

Contact

Theme Leaders

Jarmo Reponen
jarmo.reponen@oulu.fi

Simo Saarakkala
simo.saarakkala@oulu.fi

6G Enabling Sustainable Society

Energy Research Themes

6GESS-4

Sustainable energy systems empowering users with digital services

Advanced digital solutions and 6G energy services that facilitate consumer participation and ensure enhanced energy security, quality, and reliability are addressed in the 6GESS-4 theme. The theme also connects energy system sustainability to climate and energy policies, focusing on climate neutrality.

The objectives of this theme are to:

Develop advanced digital solutions and 6G energy services, which facilitate consumer participation and ensure enhanced security, quality, and reliability of energy and all digital services.
Incorporate digital solutions into energy systems in order to improve flexibility and sustainability.

Contact

Theme Leaders

Eva Pongracz
eva.pongracz@oulu.fi

Hirley Alves
hirley.alves@oulu.fi

6GESS-5

Energy efficiency of digitally enabled user-centric systems

The 6GESS-5 theme is concerned with developing energy-efficient technologies and energy harvesting to eliminate the need for constant reliance on power lines or the charging and replacement of batteries. In line with the 6G Flagship research, the theme is linked to the development of eHealth sensor devices and data gathered from those devices.

The objectives of this theme are to:

Create environmentally friendly, energy-efficient electronics and edge computing for eHealth applications.
Design and manufacture sensors with wireless connectivity for measuring people’s health data in energy-efficient and sustainable systems.
Elucidate the prospects and effects of data management
(collection, processing, transfer, and utilisation) in a sustainable way for digital care pathways, service models, and novel healthcare technology.