The Device Management Forum is a group of stakeholders involved in the development, distribution and management of end user telecommunications devices and the services they support. Members include device manufacturers, network operators, software vendors, distributors and retailers.

Abraham Joseph, who is joining the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) communications and machine to machine mission to China from 5th to 9th July, told UKtechnologylive more about the Device Management Forum and China’s role in the manufacture of almost all telecommunications devices.

A British company is helping to change how women are monitored during pregnancy and child birth with the creation of wireless, wearable mother and baby monitors.

Monica Healthcare’s ‘iPod’ sized wireless monitoring device removes the need to be physically linked to large monitoring equipment during child birth.  This can provide greater comfort and freedom of movement allowing more natural birthing positions. There are also practical benefits for obstetricians and midwives, who can view and monitor both mother and baby’s heartbeat remotely during the pregnancy, even if the mother is at home.

Carl Barratt, chief executive, Monica Healthcare said, “It’s essential to have a reliable and accurate trace from a monitor to assess the health of the unborn child as well as the mother, particularly during labour and birth.  Monica provides this through measurement of both mother and baby’s heat rate, and other uterine activity.”

Monica Healthcare was born out of research at the University of Nottingham. Following extensive clinical trials, Monica labour and delivery (L&D) monitors were granted approval for use in European hospitals. The company recently witnessed the first deliveries of babies in Europe, monitored through gestation and birth by its VS series of monitors. The company has partnered with Alere, a U.S. provider of specialised telemedicine health management services, to offer surveillance and management during pregnancy in the patient’s own home to some 225,000 pregnancies in the USA.

The opportunities in healthcare developments overseas encouraged Monica Healthcare to join the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) e-health trade mission to China. The company appointed a distributor in China a year ago, but Barratt feels headway can also be achieved by understanding the business culture and issues driving healthcare sector reform.

“Joining the e-health mission to China feels like a very natural progression of the company’s development, and working with UKTI provides Monica with a chance to make contact with homecare service providers and monitoring companies in China,” he said.

“Right now, China is a breeding ground for telemedicine. All the major telecommunications companies are involved, so it is where a company like Monica needs to be engaged and demonstrating its capability. We want to show the advances being made in the monitoring and transmission of patient data, whether via wireless Bluetooth within the hospital, or remotely via mobile phone and internet.”

www.monicahealthcare.com

Ten of the 50 most populated cities in the world are in China. There are now more than 170 cities with a registered population of one million or more across the China mainland according to recent estimates.

New growth centres of technology manufacturing, biotechnology and software development have sprung up across the country over the last few years. This has created both a tangible opportunity for engagement, partnership and collaboration, and a real headache for British companies deciding on a business location in a country that stretches more than 3000 miles across the Asian landmass.

This is only one of the issues to be addressed by entrepreneurs looking to do business in the region. Developing a presence in a country, thirteen hours away by air, is no simple undertaking. Understanding the different business rules and cultural sensitivities in the two countries can make or break relationships.

One of the UK companies attending the e-health and telemedicine mission to China with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in July, is a business consultancy advising companies facing these issues. China Business Solutions, a company based in Cambridge, provides technology businesses with advice and support in making rational investment decisions in China.

Ting Zhang, CEO of China Business Solutions feels that businesses need the right support for their eastern adventures. “Market research and analysis, business development and marketing are issues that businesses would routinely carry out in the UK. Yet to achieve this in another country is daunting. We help provide some of the solutions to these issues because we have been operating in the Chinese market since 2001.”

“There is more to achieving long-term success in China than simply finding a partner and striking a deal. Issues such as licensing and technology transfer need careful consideration, as does the protection of intellectual property. Yet the benefits can be significant over time. We assisted a global mobile phone operating system company to set up a development centre in Beijing three years ago and this facility now employs more than 150 software engineers.”

China Business Solutions is now looking to develop its presence in the e-health sector and Zhang believes that bridging the cultural gap between the two countries can help businesses from China as much as those from the UK. “With more Chinese firms looking to expand internationally, we want to help them forge partnerships in the UK. E-healthcare provides a new platform for us to develop our business and this mission will provide a better understanding of the market opportunity.”

Anyone who uses the London Underground service will be familiar with the Oyster cards that are used to get into and out of underground stations. Today, more than 80% of journeys on the bus or tube in London are paid for using Oyster cards.

Oyster cards use technology called Near Field Communication (NFC). This is a short-range high frequency wireless technology which enables the contactless exchange of data over about a 10 centimetre distance. New developments in NFC are seeing the technology integrated into a number of new gadgets including mobile phones and netbooks.

Beyond use for transport, NFC can be used for a wide range of different applications: from replacing the traditional swipe card to get into office buildings to providing ticketing for major entertainment and sports events. NFC can even enable the transfer of business cards by touching one mobile phone to another.

Despite some early false dawns, the potential for NFC technology is staggering – according to IMS Research NFC chip shipments could reach 785 million units by 2015.

Ensuring that NFC technology can be added to mobile devices simply and cost effectively is one of the big issues to make the technology viable. UK company Innovision recently unveiled a complete on-chip system designed to enable NFC functionality to be added at low cost to mass-market mobile phones.

Innovision, which is joining the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) missions in July, supplies a range of chips and intellectual property into China for applications including contactless transport tickets and cards.

“We expect that 15 to 20 percent of all the handsets shipped globally in 2012 to include low-cost NFC technology,” said David Dent, Vice President Asia Pacific Sales, Innovision Research & Technology. “Since most mobile manufacturing now happens in China, it is important for us to build our presence in the market. Never mind the billions of potential consumers in the region.”

“People have talked about contactless technology on mobile phones for a long time. The problem has been that it has been expensive and time consuming to integrate NFC into mobile devices. This is changing and by demonstrating a solution that delivers the technology simply, quickly and cost effectively, we hope to engage with the Chinese manufacturers to adopt leading British technology across the world.”

www.innovision-group.com

UKtechnologylive asked George Mackintosh, CEO of TestPlant, to describe what the company does, why it is looking at the Chinese market and why the company is joining the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) mission to China in July.

The speed of economic growth in China has provided opportunities for UK companies to develop new revenue streams.  The UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) missions to China in July will enable companies that are new to the market to meet with and share ideas with those who have successfully been trading in China.

A case in point is Levering, a consultancy for the digital content and creative industries.  The company has now done business in 20 Chinese cities and is joining the communications and machine to machine mission to China to develop further business opportunities. 

Mervyn Levin, CEO, Levering says, “In 2007, I decided to branch out into China and the rest of Asia. Those economies are driven by innovation, have a dynamic approach to business, and more importantly, have a large population of young people who are using digital content in their daily lives – which provides business opportunities for us.”

UKTI helped Levering with the tools it needed to grow business in China, including Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) reports in preparation for tackling the Chinese market.

 “UKTI gave us access to people we otherwise would not meet,” says Levin. “Their advisers in China pointed us in the right direction, reducing the amount of time it would take to develop an established customer base. In addition, through networking events, we have met other UK businesses both setting up and already established in Asia, allowing us to share our experiences working abroad.”

“When others see that you are serious about building a business in China, they are that much more willing to do business with you. Here investing into relationships is key,” advises Levin.

 “In China, there is a great appetite to engage with the West,” says Levin. “I have learned that when it comes to doing business in Asia, you have to leave your preconceptions at home.”