The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) on Friday announced the establishment of an emirate-wide intelligent surgical network in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson. The initiative focuses on building an intelligent surgical network to scale responsible artificial intelligence across operating rooms in the emirate.

In addition, the collaboration positions Abu Dhabi at the center of a new global ecosystem for surgical AI. It aims to improve patient outcomes and support clinicians through advanced digital capabilities. Moreover, it strengthens Abu Dhabi’s sovereign, intelligent health infrastructure.

The network will deploy Johnson & Johnson’s Polyphonic™ open digital ecosystem. This will be done in collaboration with existing technology partners, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), NVIDIA, and Core42. Furthermore, it builds on Abu Dhabi’s integrated provider network to connect operating rooms across the emirate.

As a result, operating rooms in Abu Dhabi will be linked across Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, PureHealth, Mediclinic Group, and NMC Healthcare. Surgical teams will gain access to advanced analytics and clinical insights at the point of care. Consequently, this connected model is designed to improve precision, efficiency, training, and consistency of care.

Dr. Noura Khamis Al Ghaithi, Undersecretary of the DoH, said Abu Dhabi has developed one of the world’s most advanced intelligent healthcare systems by integrating data, AI, and digital technologies across the sector.

She added that the emirate is strengthening surgical care through its connected surgical network with Johnson & Johnson. According to her, it enables smarter clinical decisions and ensures every procedure improves the next. Importantly, she noted that Abu Dhabi is operationalising AI across the system to deliver measurable impact.

Meanwhile, the initiative brings together hospitals, government entities, academic institutions, research partners, and technology leaders under DoH’s unified governance framework. Insights from before, during, and after each surgery will be securely curated and structured. These insights will then feed back into the system to support responsible development and validation of next-generation surgical AI.

Additionally, the collaboration establishes Abu Dhabi as the anchor of an open and interoperable surgical innovation environment. This is designed to accelerate global clinical collaboration and responsible AI development in healthcare.

Hani Abouhalka, Company Group Chair, Surgery, MedTech, Johnson & Johnson, said the collaboration reflects a shared ambition to advance AI solutions for surgery. He added that it aims to meaningfully support surgeons and improve patient care globally.

For patients, the initiative may enable more precise procedures, more consistent standards of care, and improved surgical experiences. For clinicians, it aims to provide smarter tools, stronger decision support, and greater opportunities for continuous learning.

In conclusion, this collaboration supports Abu Dhabi’s broader vision to advance precision medicine, AI-enabled care, advanced therapeutics, and clinical research. Ultimately, it strengthens the intelligent surgical network as a core pillar of the emirate’s future healthcare transformation.

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