Could 5G Transform Life Sciences?
By Deb Briffa, Vice President, Global Client Lead, KellyOCG
2020 will see 5G slowly become part of everyday life in the US. Right now, we have spotty coverage, and you may occasionally notice that your phone seems to be connected to a 5G network. But as 5G starts to join up around the country, users could experience speeds up to 1000 times faster than we currently see with 4G. This is great for downloading your favorite movies, but what does it mean for Life Sciences and the talent that drives Life Sciences organizations? Today, I want to take a closer look at the 5G revolution in Life Sciences and healthcare and what this means for talent strategy as we move into a new age of hyper-fast communication.
5G Will Boost IoT Capability
The IoT (Internet of Things) in healthcare and Life Sciences has become increasingly important over the last few years. Simply, the IoT joins the dots between physical devices to gather important data. This currently supports a range of processes, from automating supply chains for key medicines to collecting medical information on clinical trial patients through mobile health devices. 5G will enable current IoT infrastructures to expand, supporting more reliable and faster connectivity across a greater range of devices. 5G is a game-changing technology for Life Sciences, with the potential to drive efficiencies, increase clinical visibility, and grow the capabilities of telemedicine and virtual healthcare solutions.
Life Sciences Organizations Need to be 5G Talent Ready
It’s not enough to wait for 5G to come to you. Life Sciences and healthcare organizations need to urgently prepare for the next era of mobile communication. This means engaging specialist talent who can help to build 5G infrastructure, deploy 5G solutions, and highlight 5G opportunities. This may involve upskilling more traditional roles, like network engineering and embracing experts in critical future skills such as edge computing and insight engineering. No one has a crystal ball, but it’s important to start reviewing your talent strategy today to understand where critical gaps and opportunities lie.
5G Skills Will Extend Beyond Your Tech Experts
It’s easy to become focused on the technical skills needed to make 5G a useful tool in your organization, but this fundamental shift in communication will impact a huge range of clinical, research, and support roles. From how data is shared in clinical trials to how doctors collect patient information to make diagnoses. As 5G takes hold, upskilling and continuous learning will become increasingly important for people at every level within your organization.
5G Could Change the Way We Think About Talent Strategy and Management
Imagine being able to see in real-time where all of the doctors in your hospitals are at any one moment and correlating that data with likely spikes in patient admissions due to diagnostic information collected through personal medical devices. You can then deploy talent across your sites in the most efficient way to meet patient needs, while ensuring medical supplies are requested in the most likely to be needed locations. This may sound like the distant future, but it could quickly become a reality in a new 5G world. 5G is a tool with the potential to increase visibility to unprecedented levels, transforming the way we think about supply chains and talent management.
What does 5G mean for your Life Sciences organization? It’s tough to say exactly what changes will hit and when, but change is coming and failure to embrace 5G opportunities could see you left behind. Start planning for 5G today to make sure your organization is ready to navigate a new era in lightning-fast connectivity.