Atos puts drones at the service of the hospital of the future in Paris and Nantes

Paris, May 17, 2019 – At VivaTech, Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announces the signature of a partnership agreement with the Public Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP, Hôpitaux de Paris) and Nantes (University Hospital Center, CHU) for the launch of a delivery drone project for the hospital of the future.

As part of this agreement, Atos will design a software platform to optimize and automate the delivery of medical products between and within facilities through air and river drones - enabling healthcare professionals to control the delivery times of medical goods and products in emergency situations, and at any time.

Users will be able to choose the most efficient mode of transport (air drone, automatic river barge, road network) depending on factors such as weather, road traffic, vehicle availability or the degree of urgency of delivery.

For the drone part, Atos will use, amongst others, the technological bricks of Azur Drones, one of the most advanced companies in the world on the autonomous drone. This French company has developed an autonomous surveillance drone capable of operating 24 hours a day, without a remote pilot, from its docking station. The SKEYETECH drone is now the only automated drone approved by the French Civil Aviation Authority.

« The major projects of the AP-HP, such as the Campus Grand Paris-Nord, are an opportunity to develop the hospital using digital technologies. We are proud to collaborate with Atos and Azure Drones to optimize the logistics of healthcare products, and thus contribute to improving patient service » says Olivier Savin, CTO of AP-HP.

« Our approach has several benefits. On the one hand, it makes it possible to meet the needs of the patient, who obtains his health product on time, on the other hand, it frees up hospital time so that medical staff can spend more time with the patient and, finally, it makes it possible to overcome logistical problems due to the increase in road traffic, for example - while ensuring budgetary savings » says Steve Péguet, Innovation Director at Atos France.

« Thanks to the autonomous drone, it is now possible to send a drone on a mission very easily, remotely and at any time. Today, the autonomous UAV is revolutionizing many markets, such as security and safety. And it is certain to revolutionize medical logistics tomorrow. We are pleased to collaborate with Atos on these new stand-alone UAV applications » adds Jean-Marc Crépin, CEO of Azur Drones.

The partnership, signed between the AP-HP, Nantes University Hospital and Atos, is part of a global roadmap, the first step of which consists in defining quality and logistics performance indicators, following a study of the logistics flows of the hospitals concerned.  A technical pilot with test flights in Ile-de-France will soon be carried out.

Atos project, « Drones, autonomous couriers, in the air and on the water at the service of patients », was selected in 2017 by the AP-HP and the University Hospital of Nantes as part of an international Call for Expressions of Interest to develop the hospital of the future.

For more information on Atos solutions for the healthcare sector, and to read Atos' vision "Look Out 2020+ for healthcare” - visit atos.net. 

The fourth edition of Atos Technology Days is being held at VivaTech, the global gathering of startups and leaders celebrating innovation, with more than 100,000 participants. Startup Azure Drone will be present on Atos LAB at VivaTech (Hall 1, D39) to present its projects.

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About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with over 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of over € 11 billion. European number one in Cloud, Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. The group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Syntel, and Unify. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.
The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information technology space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education as well as multicultural and pluralistic approaches to research that contribute to scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the group enables its customers, employees and collaborators, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably and confidently in the information technology space.

Press contact
Lucie Duchateau | lucie.duchateau@atos.net | +33 7 62 85 35 10

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