Digitization of health care and commercially available technologies that can improve the work of hospitals were the conference theme. A Ministry of Health representative discussed the activities of her ministry in the field of e-health development in Poland during one of the first panels. Wojciech Zawalski, Director of the Services Department at the National Health Fund, raised the issue of telemedicine and the implementation of such solutions. Marcin Węgrzyniak, Director of NCHIS, spoke about the current state of e-health and what the future holds. The meeting was also an opportunity to present a comprehensive system called Asseco Medical Management Solutions and discuss plans for its further development.
The conference, organized by Asseco, was partnered by: IBM, the event’s main sponsor; Sponsors –Oracle, Pixel, Xerrex, M2M; and Conference Partners: Koncept-L, Dell, and Carestream.

The use of latest IT solutions in medicine is the next natural step to change patients’ situation and improve the quality of health care services. Capabilities of modern systems are widely used not only in patients’ care, but also in diagnostics, and throughout the entire treatment. These include: the analysis of Big Data; the use of machine learning in assisting diagnostics, as well as the use of IoT (Internet of Things) in telemedicine devices; teletransmissions – made possible in Poland due to an agreement between Asseco and Microsoft; and also such subtle solutions like the synthetic molecular machines, which won this year's Nobel prize.

Magda Taczanowska, Public Sector Lead at Microsoft Polska: The digital transformation of health care is happening right before our eyes, it is no different in Poland where we participate in it, too. Innovation, creativity and research all play a role in introducing modern solutions in health care. Cooperation with Asseco is another step towards a friendlier, more modern, and more efficient health care. ‘Skype for Business’ at health care facilities will save vital time and resources, as well as allow for a quicker diagnosis. This, in turn, means that doctors will be able to focus on providing the optimum treatment for the patient concerned.

Cooperation between the companies will focus on the use of Skype for Business within a hospital information system (HIS). This agreement means more than half of health care facilities in Poland, including those running Asseco software (estimated over 50% market share in software for health care facilities in Poland) will be able to use modern communication technologies, for e.g. in teleconsultancy.

Krzysztof Groyecki, Vice-President of the Management Board at Asseco Poland: Polish health care market has a huge growth potential, taking into account legal conditions for the use of latest technology, market size - 38 million people – as well as the demand for this type of solutions. Patients are accustomed to high-quality commercial services and they expect the same from health care facilities. We lead the market in software for hospitals and health care practices in Poland, and we want to meet the needs of patients, the medical staff, and hospital administration. Microsoft specializes in business communication technologies, and this agreement is the next step in the growth of our health care offer.

First day of the conference will focus on regional projects within the Health Service. Speakers will include Maciej Sytka of the Marshal’s Office of the Wielkopolska Region, who will evaluate the implementation of the Wielkopolskie e-Zdrowie project; and Marcin Stefański, Director of the Department of Computer Science and Information Society at the Marshal’s Office of the Pomorskie Region, who will discuss the details of a regional e-healthcare project within the new EU budget framework. Marcin Węgrzyniak, Director of the National Center for Health Information Systems, is among the participants of a panel discussion called Realizing the potential of modern IT in meeting local communites’ health care needs.
The conference will be held at the Microsoft Polska HQ in Warsaw (Al. Jerozolimskie st. 195a), on 19 and 20 October.

The agreement provides that the selected companies from the Asseco Group will organize work experience and internships for Academy students and graduates, scientific cooperation in the implementation of theses and dissertations, as well as joint projects, including those funded by the European Union.

The project’s objective was to implement and provide private customers and small enterprises with an Internet banking system called R Online. Asseco Customer Banking Platform (the Asseco CBP) – an Internet and mobile banking solution, based on the concept of a mini-application – was employed in order to implement it. Contract for the project was concluded in June 2015, and the launch of the new customer system took place in July 2016. Asseco CBP allows its users to freely design their banking experience and use a wide range of products and services available on the remotely accessed platform. This means designing IT systems for a specific customer segment is a thing of the past. Asseco CBP is intuitive and can thus be used by anyone; thanks to its flexible selection of mini-applications the bank can address its Internet and mobile banking to different customer groups.
Sławomir Filar, Head of the Project, Asseco Poland S.A.: Asseco CBP allows customers / banks to quickly and effectively implement Internet and mobile banking. Its unique architecture, based on a platform, mini-applications, and adapters, provides unprecedented opportunities. It affords a different approach to the project and to the process of designing its scope and stages, delivering substantial business benefits in a very short time. Freedom of personalization, both for individual customer segments as well as their particular needs, is the key benefit of implementing this system.  

Quicker implementations
The project – given its scope – was completed in a very short period of time. This was due to several reasons. First of all, the division into mini applications means it can be implemented in stages. This allows the bank to launch certain system functionalities quickly and with zero risk. Secondly, the implementation was completed without shutting down the previous online banking system. Customers were free to decide when the transition to the new system takes place, at a time most convenient to them. Thirdly, Asseco CBP is working on mobile browsers thus eliminating the need to develop a native app, which the customer would have to download and install on their phone. Applying the RWD technology enabled Raiffeisen Polbank to quickly implement the Internet and mobile banking system that is working on every desktop computer, smartphone, and tablet. As a result the customer encounters the same features, the same graphics, and the same manner in which operations are performed on any device. This eliminates the need to ‘learn’ the new system on each occasion, as was the case up until now. Particular functions are not restricted only to certain devices; therefore the customer should not fear that, for e.g., by using their smartphone they will not be able to carry out a certain operation available on their desktop computer.

Personalized banking
Bank put the emphasis on customer convenience and ease of use, hence the most commonly used functions are intuitively located and are readily accesible. All information within the system is presented to the customer in a transparent and aesthetically pleasing way, so that they receive whatever they need immediately, without wasting their time looking for the particular information and diving deep into the menu structure.
Tomasz Dymowski, Head of Retail Offer & CRM at Raiffeisen Bank Polska S.A.: The new service is based on the architecture of separate applications, known from smartphones. We thus have a separate mini-application for accounts, deposits, or payments. Such an arrangement simplifies and shortens the time required to perform individual operations. When you add the possibility to personalize any of these applications, their choice, layout, making shortcuts for the most commonly performed transactions (so that they can be performed with a single tap or mouse click), then what you get is a service that each customer can configure to suit them perfectly, in order to use it quickly and conveniently.
Based on the currently implemented solution the bank can expand the system, both in terms of other types of devices, as well as regarding its functional scope. Importantly, the bank may extend the offer themselves.

Asseco Group grew again and now includes Modulus, an expert software house based in Kraków. Modulus delivers innovative IT solutions within the Software as a Service (SaaS) area, cloud platforms (PSaaS), and services in the area of User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) designing. This investment forms part of the company strategy of developing proprietary innovative IT products and advanced IT services related to design and implementation of IT systems.Adam Góral, CEO of Asseco Poland: The increasing role of startups in product development within the new technologies industry is a much-discussed topic in Poland and around the world. Asseco has, for quite some time already, closely monitored this market in search of innovative products and groups of people with great potential. Modulus represents world-class quality, and I am confident that this team will add a lot of value to our Group.
Mikołaj Dunikowski, CEO of Modulus Sp. o.o.: Modulus adheres to the principle that the most beautiful solutions are those that stem from R&D, while being deeply rooted in market realities, and solve real problems faced by millions of people every day. Joining Asseco was a completely natural step for Modulus, having watched the development of Asseco Group and its consistently implemented strategy of innovation. Asseco sees the potential in the innovative line of products we created and our expertise in the area of User Experience that both set market trends for quite some time already, and that we use symbiotically when working on large projects for our customers in the European market. Joining the Asseco Group will facilitate achieving our global ambitions.
Acquisition of shares Modulus is part of Asseco strategy, which assumes growth through acquisitions and the development of innovative solutions.
Adam Góral: I perceive the cooperation with startups as a way of harnessing innovation. That’s also the reason why we are constantly investing in R&D. We spent PLN 136m in Poland, and PLN 508m across the entire Group on R&D activities just last year. As a result, we create products that are not only very good, but above all are helping our customers effectively meet the increasing demands of the markets in which they operate.
More on Modulus: http://modulus.eu/pl/

The project’s main objective was the centralization of billing systems for mass market consumers within the TAURON Group. Implementation comprised the migration of data belonging to 4.4m customers, together with the three-year history, from 12 different source systems to AUMS EDO – the new central billing system. Its functional scope covers all processes related to customer service, including: contracts, billing, finance, debt collection, reporting, and cooperation with E-Customer Service. The project ran from August 2012 until May 2015.