The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) has launched an emirate-wide intelligent surgical network in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, marking what it described as a global first in connected surgical AI infrastructure.
The initiative builds on Abu Dhabi’s sovereign intelligent health infrastructure to scale the responsible use of artificial intelligence across operating rooms, improve patient outcomes and support clinicians. The collaboration is also aimed at positioning Abu Dhabi as a global hub for advancing surgical AI innovation.
The network will deploy Johnson & Johnson’s Polyphonic open digital ecosystem in collaboration with technology partners including Amazon Web Services (AWS), NVIDIA and Core42. It will connect operating rooms across Abu Dhabi through the emirate’s integrated healthcare provider network to accelerate research, support responsible AI adoption and enable a continuously improving care model.
Under the initiative, operating rooms across Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, PureHealth, Mediclinic Group and NMC Healthcare will be connected, enabling surgical teams to access advanced analytics and clinical insights at the point of care.
The connected system is designed to improve surgical precision, operational efficiency, training and consistency of care, while accelerating shared learning, quality improvement and innovation across Abu Dhabi’s healthcare ecosystem and beyond.
The initiative brings together hospitals, government entities, academic institutions, research partners and technology companies under a unified governance framework led by DoH. Insights collected before, during and after surgeries will be securely curated, structured and fed back into the system to support the responsible development and validation of next-generation surgical AI.
Operating continuously and at scale, the ecosystem is designed to create a continuous learning model that accelerates innovation and supports the safer deployment of new surgical technologies for clinicians and patients.
The collaboration with Johnson & Johnson also positions Abu Dhabi as the anchor of an open and interoperable surgical innovation ecosystem aimed at advancing responsible AI development and clinical collaboration globally.
Dr. Noura Khamis Al Ghaithi Undersecretary – Abu Dhabi DoH
“Behind every operation is a surgeon making life changing decisions. Abu Dhabi has built one of the world’s most advanced intelligent health systems to enable innovation such as this, harnessing data, AI and shared intelligence to create impact at scale. Through our connected surgical network and collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, we are strengthening surgical care, enabling smarter clinical decisions, and ensuring every procedure can help to make the next safer and more precise. Abu Dhabi is not piloting AI in healthcare; we are operationalizing it across our system to deliver measurable impact for our community and beyond.”
Hani Abouhalka, Company Group Chair, Surgery, MedTech, Johnson & Johnson, said that, “This groundbreaking collaboration with the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi demonstrates a shared ambition to accelerate the next-generation of AI solutions for surgery and drive innovation to meaningfully support surgeons and improve patient care globally.”
DoH, Johnson & Johnson advance AI healthcare vision
For patients, the initiative is expected to support more precise procedures, more consistent standards of care and improved surgical experiences through the use of advanced AI-driven insights and connected operating room technologies. For clinicians, the program aims to provide smarter tools, enhanced decision support, real-time analytics and greater opportunities for continuous learning and collaboration across healthcare institutions.
Image credits: ADMO | Cropped by GBN
The initiative with Johnson & Johnson aligns with Abu Dhabi’s broader healthcare transformation strategy focused on precision medicine, AI-enabled care, advanced therapeutics and clinical research. It also strengthens the emirate’s position as an integrated healthcare and life sciences hub for developing, testing and scaling emerging medical technologies capable of improving patient outcomes and operational efficiency.
By combining agile regulation, AI-enabled digital infrastructure, leading healthcare providers and a rapidly growing life sciences ecosystem, Abu Dhabi aims to accelerate the transition of healthcare innovations from development to real-world implementation, while reinforcing its role as a global center for digital health innovation and advanced medical research.
