Samsung is backing open hardware and software platforms in the hope of encouraging the wider development of sensors, algorithms and data collection for health-based services.

The South Korean vendor has come up with an open hardware reference design called Simband, which it has demonstrated in the form of a wearable wristband.

It also showed off how an open software platform could pull together and display data from a number of sources.

The platforms are designed to attract entrepreneurs – and new thinking – to the health sector.

Samsung’s own description for what the basic hardware platform can do was fairly typical – track measurements such as heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure.

In fairness, the company has shown an interest in the health sector for some time and has a string of partnerships and service announcements behind it.

And it is not the only handset vendor supposedly fascinated by health. Arch rival Apple is also thought to have studied the sector closely, although with no announcements made.

In addition to its Samsung Digital Health Initiative, the vendor unveiled the Samsung Digital Health Challenge – a $50 million investment fund for digital health startups.

“Samsung’s Digital Health Initiative provides an exciting opportunity for the brightest minds in the technology world to come together to develop the products that will, for the first time, put individuals in the driver’s seat in understanding their own health and wellness,” said Young Sohn (pictured), president and chief strategy officer, device solutions, Samsung Electronics.