Ritwik Batabyal is the Chief Technology and Innovation officer at Mastek. On this capability, Ritwik facilitates the mixing of latest and disruptive applied sciences, monetizes Knowledge and AI applied sciences throughout industries and builds partnerships with start-ups and exterior innovation ecosystems.
Earlier than becoming a member of Mastek in January 2022, Ritwik was the GDH of Platform and Options for L&T Technology Providers Restricted. He served because the Chief Technology and Engineering Head of Subsequent-generation Enterprise Merchandise at Wipro for six years. Throughout his 26 years within the IT and engineering business, Ritwik has recognized and carried out applied sciences to remodel enterprise methods into digital options, offered technical path and developed technique for journey and expense administration options.
Hello Ritwik, because the CTO and Innovation Officer at Mastek, what have been probably the most vital technological developments you’ve carried out since becoming a member of the corporate?
The strategy has been centered round leveraging use circumstances from our current tasks, significantly within the well being tech sector. First, we started by understanding the precise use circumstances and necessities outlined in a number of tasks. This fashioned the inspiration of our strategy. Furthermore, Buyer suggestions performed a vital function. Throughout challenge execution, we frequently uncovered extra necessities and expectations that weren’t explicitly acknowledged within the preliminary challenge scope. Many nuanced wants and handbook validation processes grew to become evident by interactions with clients. To handle these uncovered wants, we developed productized, pluggable options—like Lego blocks—that might be integrted into current tasks. This strategy was pushed by the Voice of the Buyer (VOC) and aimed to boost the general worth proposition of Mastek’s choices. We consider our superior AI capabilities can play a major function in healthcare-productized options. By leveraging cutting-edge know-how, we purpose to revolutionize the healthcare sector, enhancing effectivity, accuracy, and affected person outcomes
Our collaboration with NVIDIA validated our AI platform, which included three key parts:
- Interplay Engine: This engine processed numerous types of interactions (e.g., chat, e mail, SMS) and captured the refined variations in communication.
- Perception Engine: This engine cleansed and remodeled information, creating actionable insights by strategies like embedding and vector formation.
- Correlation Engine: This engine related interactions with insights, leveraging algorithms to supply significant correlations.
This foundational platform supported our efforts to fulfill the complicated and infrequently unspoken wants of our clients, making certain that we might ship revolutionary, AI-driven options tailor-made to their particular necessities.
Are you able to focus on the distinctive challenges and alternatives you see on the intersection of AI, IoT, 5G, and medical system safety?
In recent times, we’ve seen a dramatic progress in adoption of interconnected medical gadgets, pushed by developments in AI, IoT, and 5G. These applied sciences allow real-time monitoring and information evaluation, considerably enhancing affected person care. For example, AI algorithms can analyze huge quantities of knowledge from IoT-connected medical gadgets, detecting patterns and predicting well being points earlier than they develop into vital. The combination of 5G know-how guarantees to revolutionize healthcare by offering sooner and extra dependable connections, which is essential for real-time information switch and distant monitoring.
Nonetheless, this progress additionally brings heightened safety issues. Many medical gadgets lack strong safety measures like full end-to-end encryption and person authentication resulting from constraints in dimension and computational energy. The business’s problem lies in balancing the necessity for superior performance with sturdy safety practices. Regardless of these hurdles, ongoing improvements in {hardware} know-how supply hope. As new supplies and designs are developed, we may even see enhancements in CPU and reminiscence capabilities that can enable for extra complete safety implementations in these gadgets.
One of the thrilling alternatives at this intersection is the potential for AI to enhance system performance and affected person care. For example, AI algorithms can analyze huge quantities of knowledge from IoT-connected medical gadgets to detect patterns and predict well being points earlier than they develop into vital. Equally, the rollout of 5G know-how guarantees to modernize the healthcare sector by offering sooner and extra dependable connections, enabling real-time information switch and distant monitoring.
Nonetheless, these developments include distinctive challenges. The extra interconnected and clever these gadgets develop into, the better the potential assault floor for cybercriminals. Guaranteeing safety measures whereas sustaining system performance is essential. Moreover, the business should handle regulatory hurdles and make sure that new applied sciences adjust to stringent healthcare requirements.
What potential penalties of cyberattacks on medical gadgets do you consider are most crucial to deal with, and the way can these dangers be mitigated?
Cyberattacks on medical gadgets can result in extreme penalties, together with the potential for malfunction or misuse. For example, 17% of hospital breaches involve IoT devices, with an average of 6.2 vulnerabilities per device. And an alarming instance of that is within the 2019 ransomware attack at a Georgia Medical Center that disabled affected person screens, allegedly contributing to an toddler’s dying. This highlights the pressing want for cybersecurity measures.
To mitigate these dangers, human oversight is crucial, avoiding automated suggestions loops in medical gadgets. Common polling by clinicians can detect malfunctions promptly. Producers ought to prioritize safety in design and prepare staff comprehensively. Implementing FDA pointers, conducting cyber assessments, and making certain correct community segmentation are additionally essential. Efficient cybersecurity insurance policies and collaboration amongst medical, IT, and cybersecurity groups will assist leverage the advantages of related gadgets whereas minimizing dangers.
Might you share with us one specific achievement or metric of your work at Mastek that you simply’re particularly happy with?
We’ve achieved vital milestones throughout numerous fronts, from executing licensed tasks in FY23 to transitioning to a nonlinear progress trajectory. Ranging from the bottom up, we’ve remodeled our strategy from a standard companies mannequin to at least one targeted on selling innovation by incubation. This shift has allowed us to construct and scale our operations effectively.
Nonetheless, probably the most vital amongst these achievements are our strategic initiatives like Mastek Ventures, by investments in startups resembling VolteoEdge and the adoption of data-driven options, we’ve expanded our service choices into related enterprise companies. These investments spotlight Mastek’s dedication to leveraging Knowledge, AI, and IoT applied sciences to empower our clients in a Related Economic system.
One other achievement that stands out is the validation we obtained from NVIDIA. The truth that NVIDIA’s engineering staff selected to work with us is a testomony to the worth and problem we introduced. The partnership validates our technical capabilities and considerably impacts the corporate’s progress and status.
How do you steadiness the trade-off between performance and safety within the improvement of network-connected medical gadgets?
Balancing safety and performance in network-connected medical gadgets isn’t any straightforward feat. The secret’s to combine safety measures with out compromising the system’s important features. This typically entails revolutionary design methods that maximize the restricted computational sources out there. Whereas {hardware} developments could finally ease this balancing act, present options require a meticulous strategy to design and steady collaboration between clinicians and producers to make sure each security and performance are maintained. By adhering to rigorous testing requirements and updating encryption strategies, we mitigate dangers successfully, safeguarding affected person care with out compromise.
What developments in {hardware} know-how do you consider maintain probably the most promise for enhancing the safety capabilities of medical gadgets?
Trendy medical gadgets have massively improved the capabilities of medical gadgets, and affected person care however they arrive with their very own set of safety/privateness points. Latest studies point out that over 80% of medical device manufacturers and healthcare providers have encountered cybersecurity incidents. highlighting the necessity for rapid safety options.
To handle these points, new supplies and user-friendly designs are being explored to boost CPU and reminiscence capabilities. This enables for complete safety measures like end-to-end encryption and robust person authentication with out compromising system performance.
Moreover, we’re deploying safe {hardware} parts resembling trusted platform modules (TPMs) and utilizing AI-powered real-time monitoring methods. These options allow proactive menace detection and response, making certain steady and safe healthcare companies.
Are you able to elaborate on the significance of human oversight in medical remedies that depend on related gadgets and the dangers of automated suggestions loops?
Not like industrial settings the place automated suggestions loops are routine, medical gadgets require fixed human involvement to mitigate dangers successfully. Clinicians play a vital function in commonly monitoring system outputs and promptly addressing any anomalies that would compromise affected person security. This proactive stance not solely safeguards towards cyber threats but in addition ensures uninterrupted take care of sufferers counting on these gadgets.
How do you advocate for sturdy safety practices amongst producers, and what particular measures do you advocate for making certain the security of related medical gadgets?
The strategy begins with emphasizing the significance of safety proper from the design part. It’s essential that safety isn’t an afterthought however a core part of the event course of. To realize this, I stress the necessity for complete coaching for all staff concerned within the creation of those gadgets.
It’s endorsed that producers combine safety measures resembling encryption and person authentication, rigorously balancing these with the system’s dimension and computational limitations. Additionally, making certain encrypted communication and robust authentication protocols can considerably cut back vulnerabilities. Moreover, it’s very important to have a transparent plan for upgrading current gadgets as new safety applied sciences emerge, sustaining the security and belief of sufferers.
In your opinion, what function does affected person belief play within the adoption and success of network-connected medical implants, and the way can this belief be fostered?
When sufferers consider that their gadgets are safe and dependable, they’re way more prone to proceed with these applied sciences and cling to their therapy plans. Constructing this belief begins with producers prioritizing safety from the very starting of the design course of.
Clear communication, coupled with common updates and proactive buyer assist, helps reassure sufferers that their security is our high precedence. By fostering a tradition of openness and responsiveness, we will construct and preserve the arrogance sufferers want to totally belief and profit from these superior medical gadgets.”
What alternatives do you see for collaboration between producers, healthcare suppliers, and cybersecurity consultants to boost the safety of medical gadgets, and what steps are essential to facilitate these partnerships?
Uniting experience from numerous fields certainly helps in higher alternative for the entire ecosystem. These partnerships can facilitate the sharing of data and sources, resulting in the event of safer and dependable gadgets. To foster such collaborations, it’s essential to ascertain clear communication channels and joint initiatives targeted on safety. Moreover, common coaching classes, workshops, and collaborative analysis tasks can even assist align the objectives and efforts of all events concerned.
