Fujitsu Japan and Juntendo University have announced the launch of a “Medical Digital Resilience Research Course,” which focuses on the realisation a resilient, disaster-ready medical system that allows for continuous provision of medical services even in the event of a large-scale natural disaster or pandemic. This course will be implemented for 3 years starting in June 2024.

The course will combine the knowledge of critical care and disaster medicine at Juntendo University with Fujitsu Japan’s digital technology with the aim of building a framework for disaster-affected medical institutions to quickly collect and share information to aid recovery.

Fujitsu Japan and Juntendo University will specifically promote the development of technologies that support the collection of information to offer insights into conditions on disaster-afflicted areas, including data on traffic congestion and fires. This will allow medical personnel and local authorities to coordinate planning and make data-driven decisions, as well as make predictions of patient volume and material transport route optimisation using tools like Fujitsu’s flood information prediction technology, and the operation simulation in normal times and disasters for hospitals, aiming at the social implementation of the research results.

With heightened awareness around disaster-preparedness in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons and floods, the establishment of business continuity plans for medical institutions has become an urgent priority in Japan, and efforts have been made to ensure that medical services can continue in roles appropriate to their size and function. However, when a large-scale disaster occurs, in the affected areas, information on medical needs such as the number of injured and sick people and the severity of these cases, as well as information on available medical resources, is currently difficult to manage during the acute stage of a disaster.