NUHS, SINGTEL AND ERICSSON EXPAND PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE NEXT-GENERATION CONNECTED HEALTHCARE

Extended collaboration will accelerate research and development in advanced connectivity and emerging 5G Advanced & future 6G technologies for Healthcare of the Future.

SINGAPORE, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National University Health System (NUHS), Singtel and Ericsson today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), reinforcing their commitment to a strategic partnership to advance connected healthcare, 5G-Advanced and 6G technology, as well as connected intelligence.

The collaboration will focus on research and development, harnessing successive generations of telecommunications and artificial intelligence technology to deliver deployable healthcare applications. NUHS will provide clinical, academic and research leadership; Ericsson will contribute expertise in mobile network technologies, network architecture and future 6G research; and Singtel will contribute expertise in advanced network deployment and services.

As part of the collaboration, Singtel and Ericsson will be founding partners of NUHS' newly established National University XG AI Centre (NXAC), which will serve as a platform for developing and translating network-enabled healthcare applications.

NXAC will bring together healthcare, telecommunications and technology expertise. The name "XG" reflects the Centre's longer-term ambition to span successive generations of network technology, from 5G today towards 6G and beyond.

NXAC will be the world's first 6G AI centre dedicated to healthcare, as well as Singapore's first translational research and development centre, which aims to serve the global healthcare community. It will provide a platform for industry experts and healthcare professionals to co-develop and validate applications using next-generation network infrastructure and AI technologies.

Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, Chief Executive, NUHS, said: "Our interest in advanced networks and AI lies in what they can do for our patients across our 14 entities, and the healthcare professionals who care for them. By bringing together clinical and industry expertise, we hope to harness future generations of telecommunications technology into practical healthcare applications. These range from autonomous mobile robots supporting hospital logistics and patient care, to connected mobile devices that extend care into the home, AI-enabled intelligent fabric for the healthcare industry, and human augmentation for advanced surgeries."

Growing R&D capabilities as a testbed for healthcare solutions

NXAC will support the translation of emerging technologies from research into real-world healthcare use. As a testbed, it will enable its team and industry partners to work alongside clinicians, nurses and operations teams to develop and evaluate technologies in a working hospital environment.

The collaboration will grow capabilities at the intersection of healthcare, telecommunications, AI and robotics. This will include joint training programmes, fellowships, internships and clinician-engineer collaborations, bringing healthcare and technology expertise closer. Additionally, the partners intend to jointly pursue public research and innovation funding, including the establishment of a corporate laboratory or equivalent industry-public research programme hosted by NUHS and undertaken through NXAC.

Mr Ng Tian Chong, Chief Executive Officer, Singtel Singapore, said: "As Singapore prepares for a rapidly ageing population and increasingly complex healthcare needs, we have an opportunity to fundamentally rethink how care is delivered with technology. Singtel is proud to bring our advanced network and digital capabilities to help realise NUHS' vision of an intelligent, trusted and borderless healthcare system – one that empowers healthcare professionals and enables more Singaporeans to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives."

Mr Daniel Ode, Head of Ericsson Singapore, Brunei and Philippines and Global Customer Unit Singtel, said: "Next-generation healthcare applications such as robotic surgery, holomedicine, and remote monitoring demand deterministic network performance that cannot be compromised. Through NXAC, Ericsson is proud to partner with Singtel and NUHS, contributing our global R&D and advanced network capabilities to translate innovation into clinical practice. By elevating clinical care standards and augmenting frontline clinical teams, we are further reinforcing Singapore's global leadership as the benchmark for the AI-native hospital."

Driving better outcomes for patients and hospitals

Through NXAC, NUHS aims to enable a future for proactive, personalised and continuous care, extending from the hospital into patients' homes and communities. Connected wearables could support continuous monitoring and preventive care beyond the hospital, while ambient AI and contactless sensing could help care teams better understand patients' conditions and identify potential risks.

Within hospitals, autonomous robotics could support logistics, medication delivery and patient support, while spatial intelligence and smarter facilities could improve the way hospitals manage their people, assets and infrastructure. Extended-reality technologies could also support robot-assisted surgery, holographic guidance, clinical training and remote specialist collaboration.

Together, these capabilities point towards a healthcare environment where technology works increasingly in the background to support clinical teams, make hospital operations more responsive, and maintain continuity of care across different settings.

Key innovation initiatives supported by next-gen connectivity

NXAC plans to spearhead initiatives built on the potential of emerging technologies, first supported by 5G and 5G-Advanced capabilities, with the programme designed to evolve towards early 6G.

Areas of development include:

• Ambient AI healthcare: Supporting clinical workflows, contactless monitoring and earlier risk detection.
• Spatial intelligence and sensing: Developing real-time location and sensing capabilities to improve visibility of people, assets and hospital activities.
• Simulation-to-real-world development: Training and testing physical and AI-enabled systems in simulated hospital environments before real-world deployment.
• Autonomous healthcare facilities: Using AI, digital twins and predictive technologies to improve facilities management, reliability and sustainability.
• Connected devices and wearables: Connecting medical devices and wearables to support hospital operations and care beyond the hospital, including hospital-at-home and remote rehabilitation.
• Autonomous medical robotics: Exploring the use of autonomous robots for hospital logistics, medication delivery and patient support.
• Medical extended reality: Advancing applications for clinical education, remote specialist collaboration and surgical support.

Note to editors

The NUHS-Singtel-Ericsson MOU builds on five years of collaboration between them in exploring advanced connectivity for healthcare. Beginning with 5G infrastructure in 2021, the partnership expanded to the deployment of an indoor 5G network at NUH in 2022, covering 10 operating theatres and three inpatient wards when fully commissioned in November 2023.

In February this year, NUHS also formed a strategic partnership with the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) GSMA Foundry, under which NUHS serves as the first global healthcare sandbox for the telecommunications industry. NXAC will serve as the global healthcare test-bed sandbox for over-the-horizon technology, that may be co-developed and validated here in NUHS.

Key terms

National University XG AI Centre (NXAC)	A translational R&D centre and testbed for developing and evaluating network-enabled healthcare applications.
XG	A reference to successive generations of network technology, from 5G today towards 6G and beyond.
5G-Advanced	The evolving generation of 5G capabilities that will support the programme before it progresses towards early 6G.
Connected healthcare	Healthcare applications enabled by connectivity linking devices, systems, care teams and settings.
Ambient AI healthcare	Applications supporting clinical workflows, contactless monitoring and earlier risk detection.
Spatial intelligence and sensing	Real-time location and sensing capabilities to improve visibility of people, assets and hospital activities.
Medical extended reality	Applications supporting clinical education, remote specialist collaboration and surgical support.

National University XG AI Centre (NXAC)

A translational R&D centre and testbed for developing and evaluating network-enabled healthcare applications.

XG

A reference to successive generations of network technology, from 5G today towards 6G and beyond.

5G-Advanced

The evolving generation of 5G capabilities that will support the programme before it progresses towards early 6G.

Connected healthcare

Healthcare applications enabled by connectivity linking devices, systems, care teams and settings.

Ambient AI healthcare

Applications supporting clinical workflows, contactless monitoring and earlier risk detection.

Spatial intelligence and sensing

Real-time location and sensing capabilities to improve visibility of people, assets and hospital activities.

Medical extended reality

Applications supporting clinical education, remote specialist collaboration and surgical support.

About the National University Health System (NUHS)­

The National University Health System (NUHS) aims to transform how illness is prevented and managed by discovering causes of disease, development of more effective treatments through collaborative multidisciplinary research and clinical trials, and creation of better technologies and care delivery systems in partnership with others who share the same values and vision.

Institutions in the NUHS Group include the National University Hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Jurong Community Hospital, Alexandra Hospital and the upcoming Tengah General and Community Hospital; three National Specialty Centres – National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS), National University Heart Centre, Singapore (NUHCS) and National University Centre for Oral Health, Singapore (NUCOHS); the National University Polyclinics (NUP); Jurong Medical Centre; and three NUS health sciences schools – NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (including the Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies), NUS Faculty of Dentistry and NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.

With member institutions under a common governance structure, NUHS creates synergies for the advancement of health by integrating patient care, health science education and biomedical research. As a Regional Health System, NUHS works closely with health and social care partners across Singapore to develop and implement programmes that contribute to a healthy and engaged population in the Western part of Singapore.

For more information, please visit www.nuhs.edu.sg.

About Singtel Group

Singtel Group is a leading Asia-based connectivity, digital infrastructure and services company with businesses and strategic investments globally that serve consumers, enterprises and governments.

The Group's telecoms businesses include Singtel Singapore, Optus and regional associates Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel. Together, they give Singtel a significant footprint across Asia, Australia and Africa, reaching over 839 million mobile customers in 20 countries.

Its digital infrastructure business includes regional data centre arm, Nxera, and a joint investment with KKR in STTGDC. Digital services arm, NCS, complements this infrastructure with enterprise technology and AI solutions, while sovereign AI cloud RE:AI brings together Singtel's AI capabilities. 

As it powers the digital and AI economy, Singtel is dedicated to driving innovation and transformation to create new and exciting customer experiences, support enterprises in their digital transformation and shape a more sustainable, digital future.

About Ericsson

Ericsson's high-performing, programmable networks provide connectivity for billions of people every day. For 150 years, we've been pioneers in creating technology for communication. We offer mobile communication and connectivity solutions for service providers and enterprises. Together with our customers and partners, we make the digital world of tomorrow a reality.

www.ericsson.com

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

NUHS, SINGTEL AND ERICSSON EXPAND PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE NEXT-GENERATION CONNECTED HEALTHCARE

New research from KPMG China and GS1 Hong Kong highlights three key priorities for retailers: building trust in AI, delivering market-specific strategies for the growing silver economy, and strengthening brand confidence across Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area

HONG KONG, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer confidence in artificial intelligence is rising across Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), but new research from KPMG China and GS1 Hong Kong shows that retailers will need markedly different strategies to convert that confidence into growth. While consumers in other GBA cities show greater openness to personalised experiences and Chinese Mainland brands, Hong Kong consumers place more emphasis on value for money.

The Growth Reimagined: Building Consumer Trust in the AI Era report identifies three themes which have emerged as a roadmap for future growth:

• Trusted AI builds consumer confidence: AI can enhance personalisation and speed up service delivery, but privacy, accuracy, transparency and a human touch will determine consumer adoption.
• Silver shoppers diverge by market: To capture the growing silver economy, brands must prioritise price in Hong Kong, and brand reputation and engaging experiences in other GBA cities.
• The low-cost-only label no longer fits Chinese Mainland brands: Their advances in quality and innovation are forcing competitors to rethink where future brand advantage will come from.

AI trust is rising but a transparency gap persists, creating new opportunities for growth

Trust in AI has risen significantly since last year's survey. In Hong Kong, 48% of consumers now trust AI at least somewhat, up from 28%, while trust in other GBA cities has increased from 59% to 76%. Yet growing trust has not translated into the same willingness to share personal data: just 10% of Hong Kong consumers who trust AI are comfortable doing so, compared with 32% in other GBA cities.

The difference in AI trust between Hong Kong and other GBA cities is particularly pronounced among silver shoppers, defined in the report as consumers aged above 55. Just 38% of Hong Kong silver shoppers trust AI, compared with 76% in other GBA cities, underscoring the challenge retailers face in building AI confidence among older Hong Kong consumers.

To bridge this gap, retailers in Hong Kong need to demonstrate clear value before asking consumers to share more data, while providing transparency and control over how their data is used. Consumer confidence should extend across the entire retail journey: from payment and product authenticity to returns and customer support. AI should help consumers find what they need more easily, while maintaining accuracy, fairness and access to human support.

Anna Lin, Chief Executive, GS1 Hong Kong, says: "AI is increasingly shaping how consumers discover and evaluate products, and it tends to recommend those backed by data it can readily interpret and trust. Businesses with trusted, standardised product data that is structured for machines to understand and use and traceable to an identifiable source will be best positioned to earn consumer confidence and influence future purchasing decisions."

The silver economy is not a single consumer market

Across all age groups, value remains a priority for 73% of Hong Kong consumers, compared with 45% in other GBA cities.

When asked to describe their shopping style, 57% of silver shoppers in Hong Kong identify primarily as value shoppers, compared with only 23% in other GBA cities, where brand reputation, at 37%, and shopping experience, at 27%, emerge as their leading considerations.

The findings suggest that age alone is not enough to define the silver shoppers. Retailers looking to capture the opportunities created by the region's ageing population will need to understand how expectations differ by market, and develop propositions that reflect those differences.

Alice Yip, Partner, Head of Consumer & Retail, Hong Kong SAR, KPMG China, says: "Growth in the silver economy depends on recognising that shoppers' priorities differ across markets. Hong Kong's silver shoppers prioritise competitive prices, while those in other GBA cities place greater emphasis on brand reputation and shopping experiences. Capturing this opportunity involves understanding what matters locally and tailoring the retail offer accordingly, rather than treating the silver economy as one uniform market."

Chinese Mainland speed raises the stakes for Hong Kong and global brands

Chinese Mainland brands are emerging as a stronger force in innovation and speed. In other GBA cities, that progress is already reflected in consumer perceptions: 64% choose them for value for money, 58% for safety and reliability and 50% for brand reputation.

In Hong Kong, however, they are still seen primarily through the lens of value. While 81% of consumers choose Chinese Mainland brands for value for money, fewer cite safety and reliability (39%), higher quality (33%) or brand reputation (31%). Their next opportunity is to turn Chinese Mainland speed and improving quality into stronger brand confidence.

Hong Kong brands retain a clear advantage in trust. Consumers in Hong Kong (74%) and other GBA cities (61%) cite safety and reliability as the leading reason for choosing Hong Kong brands. Among Hong Kong consumers, preference for Hong Kong brands is particularly strong in airlines (78%) and food and beverages (71%).

But trust cannot be taken for granted. As Chinese Mainland brands strengthen their safety and reliability credentials, Hong Kong brands will need to combine their reputation for reliability with greater innovation, sharper value and faster execution.

Anson Bailey, Head of Consumer & Retail, Asia Pacific, KPMG China, says: "Any brand that still sees Chinese Mainland competitors as a low-cost threat is looking in the rear-view mirror. Chinese Mainland speed is now producing better products, sharper design and faster innovation at a scale few markets can match. The real shift is that Chinese Mainland brands are learning to build brand equity at the same pace as they have built scale through value and speed. This is increasingly influencing who can win – not only in the GBA, but in consumer markets worldwide."

About KPMG

KPMG in China has offices located in 31 cities with over 14,000 partners and staff, in Beijing, Changchun, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Dalian, Dongguan, Foshan, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Shanghai, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Taiyuan, Tianjin, Wuhan, Wuxi, Xiamen, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR. It started operations in Hong Kong in 1945. In 1992, KPMG became the first international accounting network to be granted a joint venture licence in the Chinese Mainland. In 2012, KPMG became the first among the "Big Four" in the Chinese Mainland to convert from a joint venture to a special general partnership.

KPMG is a global organisation of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG is the brand under which the member firms of KPMG International Limited ("KPMG International") operate and provide professional services. "KPMG" is used to refer to individual member firms within the KPMG organisation or to one or more member firms collectively.

KPMG firms operate in 138 countries and territories with more than 276,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. Each KPMG member firm is responsible for its own obligations and liabilities.

About GS1 Hong Kong

GS1 Hong Kong is the local chapter of GS1®, a global, not-for-profit data standards organisation represented in over 120 countries. Through globally recognised standards such as GTIN (barcodes), we enable businesses to identify, capture and share trusted data across physical and digital supply chains, helping them accelerate digital transformation, access global markets, strengthen supply chain resilience and efficiency, and advance transparency, safety and sustainability.

Building on global data standards, GS1 Hong Kong provides solutions including ezTRADE for B2B data exchange, ezTRACK for supply chain traceability, and 1QR, powered by GS1 Digital Link, connecting 2D barcodes to rich product information such as certifications and sustainability data.

The trusted data infrastructure also supports emerging business needs, from trade finance to Scope 3 emissions reporting and ESG compliance. In an AI-driven economy, we provide the foundation for high-quality data that is accurate, visible, linkable, searchable, shareable and traceable.

GS1 Hong Kong supports close to 8,000 corporate members across 20 sectors, including retail and consumer goods, food and beverage, healthcare, apparel and footwear, logistics and ICT.

Website: www.gs1hk.org

** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **

AI trust gap reveals distinct retail priorities: Divergent paths to consumer growth in Hong Kong and the GBA