Utilization of environmental monitoring information in pharmaceutical manufacturing

In the manufacturing industry in general, digitization has been a big trend for some time now. However, manufacturing companies do not yet know how to utilize all the data they collect about production processes and thus gain additional value. The pharmaceutical industry is very different industry compared to other manufacturing industries and requires the manufacturer to closely monitor the processes to guarantee their reliability. Pharmaceutical manufacturers also have to follow exact requirements and laws, which are monitored by external parties. The purpose of this thesis was to focus on pharmaceutical manufacturing and environmental monitoring data that is collected from production processes. The company, for which this thesis was done, needed to find out how the monitoring data of their current environment is utilized and how it could be developed. The company was aware that they collect certain information in order to meet the requirements for pharmaceutical manufacturing, but there are still gaps in how they utilize this collected information. A lot of information in the pharmaceutical industry is collected only because of requirements, and companies do not always think about utilizing that information for other purposes. The answered research question of this thesis was “How environmental monitoring data can be utilized better in a pharmaceutical production environment?”. The research was conducted at one manufacturing site of a pharmaceutical company. The study was conducted as a semistructured interview study where the participants were personnel who are involved in monitoring the manufacturing environment at the site. The thesis also explores technical solutions for the utilization of environmental monitoring data, which were developed based on the interviews. Based on the interviews and the site's documents, it was possible to get an understanding of the current environmental monitoring programme and how the data collected from it is utilized. With the help of the key points that emerged from the interviews, it was possible to design technical solutions for better utilization of the environmental monitoring data in production. The results of the thesis are presented to the company and site, and the implementations of these technical solutions are not part of this thesis. The thesis brought up the current state of utilization of data in one area of the manufacturing industry, where there are still not many studies to compare with. Although this study only gave a small view of the utilization of data in the pharmaceutical industry, and especially of the utilization of environmental monitoring data. It is important to create the basis for possible new research in this area, where there is clearly a lot to be developed. The utilization of manufacturing industry data is to some extent comparable to pharmaceutical manufacturing, but due to its differences, it is important to remember the details that make it different. Because of the differences, this industry has different needs for the usage of data

Validation of design artefacts for blockchain-enabled precision healthcare as a service.

Healthcare systems around the globe are currently experiencing a rapid wave of digital disruption. Current research in applying emerging technologies such as Big Data (BD), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Digital Twin (DT), Wearable Sensor (WS), Blockchain (BC) and Smart Contracts (SC) in contact tracing, tracking, drug discovery, care support and delivery, vaccine distribution, management, and delivery. These disruptive innovations have made it feasible for the healthcare industry to provide personalised digital health solutions and services to the people and ensure sustainability in healthcare. Precision Healthcare (PHC) is a new inclusion in digital healthcare that can support personalised needs. It focuses on supporting and providing precise healthcare delivery. Despite such potential, recent studies show that PHC is ineffectual due to the lower patient adoption in the system. Anecdotal evidence shows that people are refraining from adopting PHC due to distrust. This thesis presents a BC-enabled PHC ecosystem that addresses ongoing issues and challenges regarding low opt-in. The designed ecosystem also incorporates emerging information technologies that are potential to address the need for user-centricity, data privacy and security, accountability, transparency, interoperability, and scalability for a sustainable PHC ecosystem. The research adopts Soft System Methodology (SSM) to construct and validate the design artefact and sub-artefacts of the proposed PHC ecosystem that addresses the low opt-in problem. Following a comprehensive view of the scholarly literature, which resulted in a draft set of design principles and rules, eighteen design refinement interviews were conducted to develop the artefact and sub-artefacts for design specifications. The artefact and sub-artefacts were validated through a design validation workshop, where the designed ecosystem was presented to a Delphi panel of twenty-two health industry actors. The key research finding was that there is a need for data-driven, secure, transparent, scalable, individualised healthcare services to achieve sustainability in healthcare. It includes explainable AI, data standards for biosensor devices, affordable BC solutions for storage, privacy and security policy, interoperability, and usercentricity, which prompts further research and industry application. The proposed ecosystem is potentially effective in growing trust, influencing patients in active engagement with real-world implementation, and contributing to sustainability in healthcare

GVSU Press Releases, 2006

A compilation of press releases for the year 2006 submitted by University Communications (formerly News & Information Services) to news agencies concerning the people, places, and events related to Grand Valley State University

The Iowa Official Register, 1969-1970

The Iowa Official Register, commonly known as the "Redbook," serves as a biographical and historical record of Iowa's leaders, government and people