Ping An unit lines up $15b for tech moves

Ping An Technology, the Shenzhen-based high-tech arm of Ping An Group, will invest $15 billion on technology initiatives in the finance, healthcare and smart city sectors over the next 10 years, said a top executive of the company.

Ericson Chan, CEO of Ping An Technology, said during the Second Ping An SMART Conference in Shanghai that the group has spent $7 billion on technology, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and cloud initiatives in the last decade and would continue to step up the same in the next decade also.

"China's healthcare demands are fast exceeding the supply. The number of national 3A-grade hospitals is not enough. Even if the government has been trying to solve the problem, the efforts will take several years. AI can help doctors to be more efficient, before, during, and after the diagnosis procedure," Chan said.

"AI can also help even before you get sick. It can predict which group of people will get chronic diseases and offer preventive measures."

Li Jianhong, a researcher at the National Center for Chronic and Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said: "Using technology, disease control has transformed from a passive treatment centered on diseases alone, to a new active model that focuses on patients."

"Normally it takes a doctor 30 minutes to go through a patient's case history. Using AI, the consultation time has reduced to just four to five minutes," Chan said.

Ping An's AI Engine can detect 35 common diseases, covering 200 million patients and 600 million potential patients.

"AI Engines are processing 15 to 40 percent of the hospitals' image reports. The efficiency of screening has improved 15 times over, as it takes only one minute for the AI Engine to scan the image and generate a report," said Xie Guotong, chief healthcare scientist at Ping An Technology.

Currently, Ping An Technology has signed strategic partnerships with over 3,000 hospitals across China. According to the company, it aims to cover all hospitals in China to benefit more patients.

Chan said that currently, AI usage in Chinese hospitals has been quite scattered. In the future, the company will strive to combine all the AI functions, such as facial recognition and voice recognition, to know patients and help patients better. "We will integrate these functions to offer a whole solution to patients for better patient outcomes," he said.

The company has also upgraded its Ping An Cloud platform. On Thursday, Ping An Technology said it was teaming up with Chinese information technology company Inspur Group Co Ltd, to launch a collaborative lab. Based on the integration of data computing and scenarios, both parties will jointly provide customers with leading technology drivers, empowering the finance, healthcare and smart city sectors.

The collaborative lab will combine Inspur's IT infrastructure and Ping An's technology, and present the outcomes on Ping An Cloud platform. It aims at building a world-leading cloud computing platform and actively promoting the landing of advanced technology.