Adds new Certified Continua Experts (CCE) and testing labs in key global markets
Washington, DC (February 3, 2015) – Continua today announced the organization has expanded its global resources to support the testing and certification of Continua-ready personal connected health technologies, with the addition of four new Certified Continua Experts (CCE) and three new test laboratories in Asia.
Continua Certified Experts assist member companies seeking to certify a personal connected health device or service as part of Continua’s Test and Certification program. CCEs are recognized as experts in the Continua Design Guidelines, Certification process and relevant supporting technologies, with experience using the Continua Enabling Software Library (CESL) and Continua Certification Test Tools. Additionally, each are recognized as experts in a subset of Continua transport technologies and interface.
Continue now has nine CCEs, recently adding the following experts to the Continua team:
- Donorov Bolortsetseg, Allion Labs, Japan
- Felix Kao, Allion Labs, Taiwan
- Diego Bartolome Arquillo, AT4, Spain
- Jeppe Pilgaard Bjerre, DELTA, Denmark
Continua also recognized Allion Labs in Japan and Taiwan, and SGS in Korea as the newest Continua test labs. Continua test labs are approved to perform all necessary testing and provide the related results and reports for any new personal connected health devices as part of the Continua Certification program. Additionally, approved test labs can provide advice, clarifications and training for manufacturers that are interested in the Continua Certification program. Continua now has ten test labs covering seven countries around the world.
“Continua’s Design Guidelines are increasingly being mandated as part of national health programs in countries around the world, which will further drive demand for plug-and-play personal connected health products,” said Horst Merkle, President and Chairman, Continua, and Director of Information Management Systems, Diabetes Care, Roche Diagnostics. “With the addition of our new Certified Experts and test labs, we are now well-positioned to help our member companies meet the growing market demand for Continua-ready products, offering an extensive complement of expert resources and testing facilities.”
Continua provides free test tools and access to CCEs to help members to achieve Continua certification for their products. Continua Certified products display a recognizable logo that signifies interoperability according to industry standards and the Continua Design Guidelines. Continua certification enables more efficient, product development and new market opportunities for interoperable products such as smart phones, dedicated wireless hubs, cloud based solutions and personal health devices that can be used to collect and relay vital health information for educated decision support.
In December 2013, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, accepted Continua’s Design Guidelines as a global standard for connectivity in personal connected health. Continua’s 2014 Design Guidelines are formatted to ITU specifications and feature: interface between personal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN) and touch area network (TAN) health devices and application hosting devices (AHDs) and wide area network (WAN) and Health Record Network (HRN) health devices. The 2014 Design Guidelines have been translated into six languages and are available to the public as a free download from Continua and ITU.
Continua Design Guidelines are developed by Continua and complete an eight month, internal testing and comment period before public release. Each set of Guidelines is subject to interoperability testing to ensure Continua certified products and services, such as smartphones, gateways and remote monitoring devices, connect to other products or systems without restrictions or specific implementation. Continua issued its original Design Guidelines in 2008 and 2010, and is working to release additional Design Guidelines each year.
To request a free copy of Continua’s 2014 Design Guidelines, please email: admin@continuaalliance.org.
About Continua
Continua is a founding member of the Personal Connected Health Alliance (PCHA), an international non-profit organization established by Continua, mHealth Summit and HIMSS to represent the consumer voice in personal connected health. Continua is dedicated to the development of its Design Guidelines that include global industry standards to ensure end-to-end, plug-and-play interoperability of personal connected health devices for the seamless and secure collection, transmission and storage of personal health data. Continua is a pioneer in establishing standards-based guidelines and security for connected health technologies such as sensors, remote monitoring devices, tablets, gateways and smart phones as well as networked and cloud solutions through its Guideline releases. The Continua Council features leading technology, medical device and health care industry leaders and service providers: Fujitsu, Intel, Oracle, Orange, Philips, Qualcomm Life, Roche Diagnostics, Sharp and UnitedHealth Group. For more information visit: www.continuaalliance.org.
