Indonesian mobile operator Indosat has joined forces with Alcatel-Lucent , the telecoms equipment vendor, to set up a partnership for developing mobile applications whose first focus is speeding up app creation for the health market. The vendor will provide Indosat’s Innovation Lab at the Bandung Institute of Technology with access to its ng Connect app development programme. The aim is to encourage students to create health-based apps. The partnership also involves US apps solutions vendor Agnity, and the local Family Partners Hospital.

The kind of app envisaged by the backers include doctors providing guidance for remote treatment of patients and medical staff enjoying remote access to a patient’s medical records. The operator is looking for apps that are suitable for delivery over its mobile broadband network.  Indosat is the second largest mobile operator in Indonesia where it faces a total of five competitors. The MoU signed by the two companies is general and will cover other areas in time beyond health applications.