MoH View: ICT data and digital vital to stopping spread of Covid-19

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Message of appreciation from Ministry of Health deputy director-general of data and digital Shayne Hunter

I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to express my appreciation, on behalf of the Ministry of Health, to the many people and organisations who have stepped up big time, in what can be described only as extraordinary circumstances.

People who work in the areas of ICT, data and digital have been vital to stopping the spread of COVID-19 and keeping New Zealanders safe and working.

For example, by enabling people to work remotely and access health services through virtual consultations, accelerating the move by the sector to the cloud and Microsoft and AWS platforms in particular, developing apps and other tools to enable new ways of working, providing or enabling access to timely data and information, removing paper from key processes, and much more.

It has been humbling to see people coming together so quickly, and in ways we haven’t seen before, to solve problems and deliver new services, and maintain business continuity. The hours worked and the effort has been huge. I recall one night some time ago while working late, someone said to me “It’s lonely on the extra mile”.  Well, that has not been the case of recent times.

It shouldn’t be left unsaid that a number of the sector’s supplier partners have been incredibly generous with offers of support, including discounted and free software and services.

I am incredibly proud of the work that’s been done by the wider sector ICT, digital and data workforce, across both the public and private sectors. I do want to also acknowledge those in the clinical workforce who have been there with us.

Of course, I do need to give a big shout out to the Ministry’s ICT and the Data and Digital teams. In the space of a few short weeks, they have helped scale up the National Health Coordination Centre and the National Crisis Management Centre, and established the National Close Contact Service (NCCS) amongst many other achievements.

The team has also working hard with a number of our partners to support faster, more effective contact tracing and better data to enable the early identification and management of outbreaks. It’s been mammoth.

Under normal circumstances, the achievements of the last 8 weeks or so would have taken many months and in some cases years. And all this while critical business operations have continued to function. We have accelerated a number of our collective and individual plans.

Our challenge now, as we start to think about the move to lower alert levels, is to take on board what we’ve learned, lock in and harness the great things we’ve achieved together and build on this. Where possible, we should not revert.

We have some new foundations, but there is still much to do.  This will allow us to accelerate the further changes needed to continue to improve the health and disability system and the wellbeing of all New Zealanders.

If you have an individual or team you would like to thank, send your message to Rebecca McBeth along with a short description of the hard work you’ve appreciated over the past couple of months.

Read more Views/CIO Interviews:

Kevin Ross: Industry View: What’s in a model?

Rebecca George: My View: Now is the time for Change

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