Insurer AIA Group and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have launched an innovation centre to help people get the insurance cover they need to help them lead longer and healthier lives.

The Edge Lab's key focus is to find ways to make insurance more accessible and to better manage issues around rising healthcare costs. It also seeks to improve patient outcomes by making the most of technology, big data and analytics.

One way is to explore how customer experience and engagement can be improved and find ways to help the life insurance sector adapt to changing technologies, customer expectations and needs in the digital world.

To achieve this, the lab will combine AIA's commercial expertise and market access with NTU's expertise and resources in areas such as computer engineering, design, business and medicine.

Minister of State for Manpower Teo Ser Luck said: "The collaboration between NTU and AIA will boost Singapore's ambitions to be a leading health and fintech - or finance technology - hub across Asia... The launch of Edge Lab also demonstrates the strong culture of open innovation in Singapore."

AIA Group chief executive and president Mark Tucker said it is committed to driving social and economic development across the region and, in doing so, make a positive difference to people's life.

"The Edge Lab will help us continue to identify new ways to engage with our customers and deliver them with the most value in the context of their health and financial wellbeing," he added.

The lab, at 79, Ayer Rajah Crescent, and at NTU, will adopt an "open innovation" approach and use the broad eco-system of government agencies, university experts, private sector and start-ups in the country.

Professor Lam Khin Yong, NTU chief of staff and vice-president (research), said the lab will tap the university's cutting-edge research capabilities in data security and advance analytics to further strengthen Singapore's quest to be a leading health and financial technology hub across Asia.

Following the launch of the lab, AIA Group and medical diagnostics provider Konica Minolta on Tuesday embarked on a 12-week "AIA-Konica Minolta Digital Health Accelerator" programme to ride on innovative solutions in the digital healthcare space.

The two partners said start-ups with innovative ideas and technology around digital healthcare are invited to apply for the programme.