Royal Philips chief executive Frans van Houten unveiled a batch of innovations and his ambitious goal to reform the healthcare industry, as well as a plan to "sell light as a service", during the “Philips Innovation Experience 2014” in Eindhoven, Amsterdam last week.
Philips declared that it would spin off its lighting operations into a standalone company, possibly for an initial public offering in the future, and combine its healthcare and consumer-lifestyle divisions into a HealthTech company, ending the company’s more than 100 year-old conglomerate structure.
The company will also continue with its bold mission to improve the lives of 3 billion people by 2025, up from 1.8 billion that it serves yearly today, he said.
Among the innovations showcased at the "Philips Innovation Experience 2014" were Minicare Cardiac Tropnin-I, a blood test that will give doctors lab-equivalent results for on-the-spot patient diagnosis; and UroNav, a solution that combines MRI images, ultrasound data, and electromagnetic tracking to help clinicians make better-informed patient-specific decisions in their treatment of prostate cancer.
Also showcased were Philips PulseRelief, an app-enabled TENs (trancutaneous electronic nerve stimulation) device that helps users choose and control personal treatment to relieve pain; and eCare cloud-based solutions for collaborative care.
On the lighting front, Philips showcased a Power-over-Ethernet connected office lighting system; and an indoor positioning system that uses "connected LED in-store lighting" to communicate location-based information to shoppers via a smart-phone app, such as special offers and information relevant to their location in the store.