On innovation, quality of life and technology of BodyNets.

Technology innovation is the key to enhancing the quality of life for everyone in the continuum of life from newborns to senior citizens. Management innovation is the fuel that sustains the technology innovation engine. Thus, together , management innovation and technology innovation have the potential to rapidly transform information processing, especially in healthcare, by successfully addressing the key challenges of access, quality and cost of care. In this paper, we examine the healthcare industry and attempt to diagnose its major challenges; we then define the healthcare continuum and explore the roles of human as an information node and BodyNets as the enabling technology to bring about a transformation of the industry to nurture it back to health. Following this, we present one approach to realizing a BodyNet using the Wearable Motherboard paradigm. We then discuss the impact of BodyNets in bringing about transformational change in the healthcare enterprise. We conclude with a brief discussion of the importance of transitioning the technology to the marketplace and highlight the broader applications of BodyNets to entertainment and lifestyle enhancement.