An announcement from the government has recently stated that the National Health Service–the publicly funded national healthcare system for England, and the largest, oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world–will receive £86 million worth of funding over the next three years.

This effort is designed to spur innovation, and help firms further develop medical advancements and technology. The release states that businesses will have the opportunity to ‘bid for funding’ in order to aid developments, which could potentially run the gamut from digital technologies to new inventive medications.

The Innovation Agency, one of England’s 15 Academic Health Science networks, will receive £39 million worth of the funding, and a Digital Health Technology Catalyst–which constitutes £35 million of the cumulative package–will support organizations within the industry, as they collectively work to develop new digital technologies.

Dr. Liz Mear, chief executive of the Innovation Agency, has stated: “The Academic Health Science Networks support the healthcare system to quickly identify and spread new, better and cheaper ways to deliver services for patients and populations…We will build on our existing track record of matching products to challenges and directing our networks and expertise to assess innovations and speed up their spread across the country.”

Since its inception in 2013, the work developed by the Innovation Agency has benefited six million people, and the institution has spread over 200 innovations across the healthcare system.