Here are a few I have come across the last week or so. Note: Each link is followed by a title and a few paragraphs. For the full article click on the link above title of the article. Note also that full access to some links may require site registration or subscription payment.
General Comment
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Guess what? Its mostly COVID-19 and the app again – with apparently some light as the end of the tunnel over the next 2 months.
Other interesting tit-bits as well – also a bit of a security theme!
Enjoy
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Ministers play Team Australia card as problems undermine COVIDSafe app
May 4, 2020 – 9.00am
A week after the government unveiled its COVIDSafe smartphone app with grand promises about its potential to track the spread of the coronavirus among the community, it is facing a problem experienced by tech start-ups the world over ... a failure to attract enough users.
While in any normal circumstances a new app attracting 4.25 million sign-ups in its first week would cause a company founder to harbour dreams of a future fortune, it is well below the threshold needed to make COVIDSafe worthwhile.
Unfortunately, increasing public cognisance of technical deficiencies in the app is only going to make it harder to convince people to sign up.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison originally suggested he wanted 40 per cent of Australians to download the app, whereas Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said it would need contact tracing data for more than 50 per cent of the population before he could be confident in using it as a factor in suggesting reduced restrictions.
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COVIDSafe likely to fall short of 40 percent target: iTnews poll
But not by much.
Australia’s new COVIDSafe contact tracing app is likely to fall just short of the government’s 40 percent take-up rate target, according to an iTnews poll.
A survey of 1337 iTnews readers over the last two weeks has found that the majority of people (48 percent) are unwilling to download the app, which was released to much fanfare on Sunday.
A further 16 percent of respondents said they would consider downloading the COVIDSafe, leaving 36 percent of people willing to download the app.
The government wants 40 percent of Australians to download the app to ensure that it plays an effective contribution to the contact tracing process by state and territory health officials.
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COVIDSafe app 'interferes' with diabetes devices
But a GP spokesperson says lack of connectivity is a frequent problem, so double check what’s causing it
4th May 2020
The Government's coronavirus contact tracing app is interfering with some continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices that also use Bluetooth, diabetes support groups say.
Both Diabetes Australia and the Australian Diabetes Educators Association say they’ve had members get in touch because they lost the connection between their CGM device and smartphone after installing the COVIDSafe app.
“If you are worried, you should temporarily uninstall the COVIDSafe app from your phone,” has been Diabetes Australia’s advice to patients.
The Federal Government says it’s investigating the problem.
In the meantime, Professor Michael Kidd agrees that any patients with concerns should keep their usual diabetes set-up at the expense of COVIDSafe.
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Govt unveils COVIDSafe contact tracing app bill
Unlawful access punishable by five years jail.
The federal government has sought to allay privacy concerns with its contact tracing app by proposing a jail term of up to five years for those that use COVIDSafe data for any purpose other than contact tracing.
Attorney-general Christian Porter revealed an exposure draft of the much-anticipated legislation [pdf] late on Monday, as the number of app downloads and registrations close in on the five million mark.
The Privacy Amendment (Public Health Contact Information) Bill 2020 is expected to be introduced when Parliament sits next week.
It will replace the interim determination issued by health minister Greg Hunt under the Biosecurity Act when COVIDSafe was launched last week.
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Coronavirus: COVIDSafe app privacy powers to be locked in law
The federal privacy tsar will be given oversight of the COVIDSafe app under legislation to be brought before parliament next week.
Attorney-General Christian Porter on Monday night released an exposure draft of legislation for the app’s privacy protections, which includes maximum criminal penalties of five years’ jail or $63,000 for misusing COVIDSafe data.
The penalties will be legislated by an amendment to the Privacy Act, bringing COVIDSafe’s use under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Nearly 4.75 million people had downloaded the coronavirus app by Monday night, with the government aiming for an uptake of more than six million before national cabinet meets to discuss lifting restrictions on Friday.
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Author's Opinion
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of iTWire.
Monday, 04 May 2020 02:32
COVIDSafe App - an update to why it should be avoided
I read the privacy policy so you wouldn't have to; there are other problems too.
I believe the privacy policy has a fatal flaw that must urgently be fixed, although it is not obvious how.
I wrote previously about issues with the Australian Government's recently-released COVIDSafe app for Android and iPhone and how the government's past history with data protections left everyone rather wary. I strongly suggest you read that piece before continuing.
Since the release at 6pm last Sunday, there have been approximately 4 million downloads - well short of the 40% they claim would be required to achieve sufficient coverage. Statistics I've seen suggest around 16.5 million Australian adults have at least one smart phone, so 40% would be around 6.6 million. Demographic data suggests that Australia's total population is 25.5 million (approx.) with around 6 million aged below 16 (and not directly authorised to install it), meaning 19.5 million people are eligible to have the app and 3 million with no phone to install it on. So, we're not even half-way there. And the take-up rate appears to be declining.
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Home Affairs led early contact tracing app work at DTA's request
Workload saw IT agency farm out initial dev.
Initial development work for the government’s contract tracing app was undertaken by the Department of Home Affairs at the request of the Digital Transformation Agency, a senate inquiry has heard.
Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo told the inquiry probing the government's COVID-19 response that the DTA had asked the department to assist with the early development of a potential app due to the DTA's workload.
He said work had begun on or around March 23 at the request of the DTA’s “head of digital” - likely the DTA’s chief digital officer - “simply on the basis that they were very much focused on the coronavirus information app”.
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DTA admits COVIDSafe performance "highly variable" on iOS
By Justin Hendry on May 6, 2020 6:07PM
But refutes some Bluetooth bugs witnessed.
The Digital Transformation Agency has admitted there will be instances where the COVIDSafe fails to capture digital handshakes on iOS, despite previous assurances from ministers that the contact tracing app works in both the foreground and the background.
But the peak IT agency maintains the Bluetooth issues aren’t clear cut, refuting claims made by some in the tech community that the app needs to be open on two iPhones for it to exchange a digital handshake.
Speaking at the senate inquiry into the government’s response to COVID-19 on Wednesday, chief Randall Brugeaud said Bluetooth connectivity on iOS was “highly variable”, depending on if COVIDSafe was open or in the background.
It raises questions about the effectiveness of the app, which more than 5.1 million Australians have now registered for, in augmenting the contact tracing process conducted by state and territory health officials.
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DTA chief defends AWS pick for COVIDSafe
Reveals app cost $1.5m to build all up.
Digital Transformation Agency chief Randall Brugeaud has defended his agency’s decision to use Amazon Web Services for the government’s COVIDSafe contact tracing app.
Brugeaud told a Senate Inquiry into the government’s COVID-19 response that the hyperscale cloud provider was chosen due to the extent of its service offering, which extends beyond hosting.
He said the contract, which will set the government back $710,000 between April and October, was for “a combination of hosting, development and operational services”.
“One of the benefits of a company such as AWS is that it can scale very quickly and provide a broader range of services than simply hosting,” Brugeaud said on Wednesday.
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Expanded access to telehealth could continue after pandemic
A spokesperson for Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has said he is engaged in planning a ‘long-term future’ for the newly funded service.
07 May 2020
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, around 4.7 million people have received 7.7 million telehealth services since 13 March, while a recent RACGP survey has found 99% of practices are now able to facilitate telehealth consultations.
The Federal Government is reportedly ‘actively monitoring’ how the new telehealth services are working, after they were hastily implemented within just two weeks.
A spokesperson for Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said more than 67,000 providers across all medical specialities have used telehealth services to date, and that he has lobbied for telehealth to continue after the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Minister Hunt is already engaged with the medical community and other key participants in planning a long-term future for telehealth,’ the spokesperson said.
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The Federal Government is reportedly ‘actively monitoring’ how the new telehealth services are working, after they were hastily implemented within just two weeks.
A spokesperson for Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said more than 67,000 providers across all medical specialities have used telehealth services to date, and that he has lobbied for telehealth to continue after the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Minister Hunt is already engaged with the medical community and other key participants in planning a long-term future for telehealth,’ the spokesperson said.
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Kiwis join COAG digital and data council
James Riley
Editorial Director
Editorial Director
2 May 2020
A New Zealand Cabinet Minister has joined the Australian Digital and Data Council for the first time as state and federal ministers – and now for the first time a New Zealand representative – discussed data and digital challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian Digital and Data Council is chaired by federal Government Services Minister Stuart Robert as a full part of the Australian Council of Australian Governments (COAG) infrastructure. It is made up of all state and federal data and digital ministers, and now New Zealand.
The council met via videoconference on Friday, to discuss the rapid evolution of government service delivery under the challenging environment of the coronavirus, and in particular the just-released COVIDSafe contact tracing app.
Joining the call was New Zealand’s Kris Faafoi as the Minister for Government Digital Services, but who also holds the Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media ministry, as well as the Commerce and Consumer Affairs portfolio.
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McKinsey tapped for myGov upgrade business case
Key platform an increasingly outsourced affair.
The federal government has tapped upmarket wonk shop McKinsey to develop the business case for the Facebook-like digital services platform that is ultimately expected to replace myGov.
The Digital Transformation Agency handed the strategy consulting firm the $1 million deal last week for what is increasingly becoming a consultancy-led project of national significance.
It comes two months after big four consultancy Deloitte was picked to develop the prototype government digital experience platform (GovDXP) at the cost of just under $1 million.
The proposed platform is the government’s answer to online services for citizens, which according to Services Australia's as-yet unreleased strategy, remain fragmented and difficult to use.
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Coronavirus Australia: No app? Leave your name and number
Australians could be asked to give their name and phone number to front-of-house staff at restaurants and cafes if they do not have the COVIDSafe tracking app, as the industry unveils a blueprint for reopening in early June with about half as many diners.
Restaurant and Catering Australia CEO Wes Lambert has submitted reopening guidelines to national cabinet, which was reviewed last week, and is working with the Queensland government this week to reopen the industry next month.
The suite of “practical, low-cost measures” advocated by Mr Lambert include a 1.5m distancing rule between tables – more relaxed than national cabinet’s one person per 4 sqm rule – disposable menus, no condiments on tables, hand sanitisers throughout the restaurant or cafe and social distancing in waiting areas.
If a person does not have the COVIDSafe app on their smartphone, Restaurant and Catering Australia wants diners to “sign in” to a restaurant and provide their name and number so they can be contacted if another patron later finds out they have contracted the coronavirus.
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RACGP urges COVIDSafe app download
Tuesday, 05 May, 2020
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has created a fact sheet to help Australians understand why the COVIDSafe app is safe, how it works and what people need to do to play their part in combating COVID-19.
The COVIDSafe Fact Sheet provides a straightforward overview of the COVIDSafe app, aimed at helping to clarify details of the app that are leading to confusion and alarm for some members of the community.
“This pandemic is forcing us to adapt the way we live our lives and go about our day-to-day business,” RACGP President Dr Harry Nespolon said.
“I understand that asking people to download an app helping to track cases of a potentially deadly virus can cause some anxiety. This isn’t something that we have had to do before and some people may not have much experience downloading and using apps.
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Pharmacy players primed for drug home delivery booster shot
By Emma Koehn
May 4, 2020 — 11.55pm
Australia's largest pharmacy operators are preparing for an upswing in the home delivery of prescription medicine, as industry players say the sector has made more than five years' worth of progress on digitisation in just a few weeks.
"We are seeing a significant increase in direct patient to pharmacy communications, including home delivery. This is occurring through the Amcal and Discount Drug Stores consumer apps as well as directly with the pharmacy, and the rollout of e-prescriptions, which has only just started, will only dramatically increase this trend," general manager of retail at Amcal owner Sigma Healthcare, Brian Tomlin, said.
Australia was on the cusp of formalising an e-prescribing framework prior to the coronavirus pandemic and the federal government has since accelerated the policy.
Sigma, which has a market cap of $625 million and owns pharmacy brands including Guardian and PharmaSave, said it anticipated deliveries would grow.
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Tuesday, 05 May 2020 12:39
Austin Health deploys Microsoft Teams in fight against COVID 19
Melbourne-based Austin Health is using Microsoft ‘s unified communication and collaboration platform Teams to undertake a major digital transformation, with deployment of the solution well advanced when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
The health service says Teams Navigator, a smart governance app developed by Microsoft partner FiveP, ensures “connection with no compromise of compliance”, allowing hospital personnel to use Teams to tackle even sensitive matters such as patient care.
The hospital said the urgent need to allow office personnel to work from home and clinical staff to “collaborate and communicate fast and safely dramatically accelerated deployment plans – and in less than two weeks 8,500 people were brought into Teams”.
“Teams helps clinical teams and executives connect rapidly regardless of where they are - whether in a hospital, in consulting rooms or working from home. Usage is surging – just three weeks into the deployment Teams was host to 550 meetings, 1,000 phone calls and 16,000 chats in one day,” Microsoft said.
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Fitbit starts study to test if devices can detect irregular heart rhythms
As wearables firm is being acquired by Google-parent Alphabet Inc.
Fitbit Inc on Wednesday launched a virtual study to test if its wearable devices can detect irregular heart rhythms or atrial fibrillation.
The hardware to detect irregular beats is present in FitBit's devices, but is not available to consumers. Device users who enroll in the study will be allowed to test it in order for Fitbit to seek regulatory review.
Fitbit, which , said in October that it planned to develop a method to detect irregular heartbeats that would match the feature available on rival Apple Inc's Watch.
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Health insurers look to extend telehealth coverage after coronavirus
By Emma Koehn
May 6, 2020 — 12.00am
Private health insurers are expecting telehealth extras coverage to be in demand after the coronavirus pandemic as health startups say public and private support is critical to maintain momentum on digital health.
"I fully believe [the sector] will retain the telehealth option indefinitely, to provide access and consumer choice," said chief executive of Private Healthcare Australia, Dr Rachel David.
Some of Australia's largest insurers including Nib and Medibank have been spruiking telehealth coverage for services including psychology and physiotherapy, after they expanded their policies in the wake of Covid-19.
It's unclear what this coverage will look like beyond the pandemic, however, with many policies expanding claims only until the end of the year at most.
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Telehealth Hub launches today
The Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre (DHCRC) has today launched a new website, the Telehealth Hub which will help clinicians, health professionals and health consumers to access and deliver telehealth services in Australia more effectively.
In the face of COVID19, rapid adoption of telehealth has been an essential tool in the delivery of health care services.
You’re receiving this email because you were one of the 8,400+ people who signed up for the hugely successful telehealth webinar series in response to COVID-19, which ran from 24 March to 21 April.
These webinars featured telehealth experts and clinicians who shared their experience and tips on getting up to speed in telehealth effectively and rapidly.
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In the face of COVID19, rapid adoption of telehealth has been an essential tool in the delivery of health care services.
You’re receiving this email because you were one of the 8,400+ people who signed up for the hugely successful telehealth webinar series in response to COVID-19, which ran from 24 March to 21 April.
These webinars featured telehealth experts and clinicians who shared their experience and tips on getting up to speed in telehealth effectively and rapidly.
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Data and Digital Council agrees to share data nationwide to support COVID-19 recovery
The federal government also launched a toolkit for businesses to navigate COVID-19 and the Australian Digital Health Agency has launched a coronavirus innovation challenge.
By Asha Barbaschow | May 4, 2020 -- 03:16 GMT (13:16 AEST) | Topic: Coronavirus: Business and technology in a pandemic
The Australian Data and Digital Council on Friday met via teleconference to discuss Australia-wide data-sharing initiatives, with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.
The council, chaired by Minister for Government Services Stuart Robert, discussed the role of data in supporting decision-makers across jurisdictions to "make timely, evidence-based decisions to address a range of needs, including social, economic, and health".
The ministers noted work was underway to identify analytical questions and associated data sharing requirements to support COVID-19 response and recovery, and that they agreed to "work collegiately" to investigate effective solutions that support decision-making, including through a dedicated official-level group.
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Government launches digital health Innovation Challenge
By Amy Sarcevic
Tuesday, 05 May, 2020
Tuesday, 05 May, 2020
The Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA) has launched an Innovation Challenge to support the healthcare sector during COVID-19, and is asking for submissions from digital health, engineering and biomedical innovators.
As part of the challenge, thought leaders attempting to solve some of the most pressing issues in these fields will compete for government funding to scale their solution.
Running for seven days, the challenge will consider innovations from across several key themes: digital clinical care, digital social care, digital health population management and future preparedness.
The initiative is part of the agency’s broader National Digital Health Strategy, which strives to foster industry growth and create the right innovation settings for the sector.
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Doctors kicking goals with Microsoft Teams
An alliance between Microsoft and one of Melbourne’s biggest public hospitals with a specialist COVID-19 isolation ward is expected to revolutionise the way health workers connect and collaborate, according to one of the tech giant’s top Australian executives.
Austin Hospital, in Melbourne’s northeast, deployed Microsoft Teams to its 8500 staff in just two weeks, enabling clinicians to conduct virtual ward rounds and discuss a COVID-19 patient’s progress safely from a remote location.
In addition, hospital executives are running operational meetings and providing training in the use of personal protective equipment through Teams Navigator, a smart governance app developed by Microsoft partner FiveP.
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The robot doctor helping treat hospital patients during a pandemic
By Stuart Layt
May 7, 2020 — 3.07pm
Temi, the newest addition to the medical staff at Brisbane’s Greenslopes hospital, never gets tired, never gets sick and is always there for patients.
Because Temi is a robot.
More specifically, Temi is a telepresence robot, a semi-autonomous platform doctors can use during situations such as pandemics to remain socially distant from patients while still giving one-on-one treatment.
The hospital’s Emergency Centre director, Dr Mark Baldwin, said patients had been reacting well to the newest doctor on the wards since two Temi units had been put into action over the past few weeks.
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BHP to trial own coronavirus contact tracing app on sites
Mining giant BHP is confident its own in-house COVID-19 tracing app will avoid some of the privacy concerns that have plagued the government’s COVIDSafe app.
BHP said on Thursday is about to begin trials of its own contact tracing app for contractors and employees, with the company planning to potentially roll out the technology across its global workforce.
The company is adamant that the app is being designed with privacy in mind. Privacy experts argue that the government’s COVIDSafe app collects far more data than is necessary for contact tracing, including all of a user’s phone contacts, and that collected data could be a honey pot for misuse despite draft legislation introduced this week.
The COVIDSafe app has also drawn criticism for the government’s poor track record when it comes to delivering technology projects, including the recent My Health Record fiasco, the 2016 census bungle and the Centrelink website crash. Some of the government’s own members, including Barnaby Joyce, have avoided downloading the app due to privacy fears.
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MEDIA RELEASE
Appetiser Apps develops app to help aged care residents communicate with family during COVID-19
Appetiser Apps launches BarbCare, a communication tool for the aged careindustry to help combat the loneliness of COVID-19
Australia, 4th May, 2020:
Appetiser Apps has launched its latest project, BarbCare, designed to help combat the communication breakdowns caused byCOVID-19. The BarbCare app provides instant communication between aged care residents and their families via a clean, minimalistic user interface. The app allows families and residents to message one another via their carers, in order to stay as connected as possible.
The unique app also makes task scheduling and logging updates simpler foraged care staff, and helps families stay in the loop about their loved one’s day. Families can view the resident’s daily routines and chat with carers in real time, and send their elderly loved ones updates, messages, photos, videos, and pictures through the app. Icons on the resident’s page alert carers to specific needs such as glasses, hearing aids and walkers.
These are immediately visible to carers as prompts, helping to ensure they’re never overlooked. Carers can easily add details of the resident’s day to the app, adding comments and photos if they wish. Privacy is in-built into the app, with residents given complete control over the information shared, including what kind of information they’re happy to include.
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App keeps stock of staff, patients and PPE
Thursday, 30 April, 2020
Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network has developed a Qlik-powered COVID-19 application to aid hospital management in managing staff, patients and stock levels of personal protective equipment (PPE). Updated frequently, and in combination, these three areas provide insight into the current healthcare environment.
The application allows end users to identify stock levels of PPE by location — with this information, management can relocate available stock to staff caring for patients that have fever or respiratory symptoms at other locations. This insight saves time as staff do not have to call a variety of locations to determine stock levels.
Using the application, healthcare managers will also be able to view absenteeism across locations and allocate staff to sites that most need support.
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Tool measures quality of life in patients with dementia
Friday, 01 May, 2020
Researchers from the University of Queensland have devised a new tool to measure quality of life in people with dementia — assessing five key domains: physical health, mood, memory, living situation and ability to do fun activities.
Importantly, the tool takes into account the views of people with dementia and is hoped to result in better targeted care for those living with the condition. A paper reporting on the valuation of quality-of-life states in the Alzheimer’s Disease Five Dimensions (AD-5D) instrument is published in the journal PharmacoEconomics.
Associate Professor Tracy Comans said the tool revealed that physical health was considered the most important contributor to quality of life, followed by a person’s living situation.
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WA govt targeted by Naikon cyber espionage campaign
'Weaponised' document sent from a diplomat’s computer.
A cyber espionage operation known as the Naikon APT group attempted to install a backdoor on the computer of a staff member in the Western Australian Premier’s Office, according to Check Point Research and the New York Times.
The security company released a new report on the Naikon APT group overnight and provided specific details of the threat to Australian government entities to the New York Times.
Naikon’s existence was first revealed by ThreatConnect and Defense Group back in 2015, but the group had been quiet since, “suggesting that they had either gone silent, increased their emphasis on stealth, or drastically changed their methodology of operations,” Check Point said.
Naikon’s current campaign started with the takeover of a diplomat’s computer.
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Toll Group suffers second ransomware attack this year
Hit by Nefilim infection.
Toll Group has revealed it is suffering its second ransomware attack this year, attributing the current infection to a type of malware known as Nefilim.
The admission comes less than a day after iTnews reported exclusively that the logistics giant had shut down its IT systems after detecting “unusual activity” on an undisclosed number of servers.
“As a result of investigations undertaken so far, we can confirm that this activity is the result of a ransomware attack,” Toll Group said in an advisory on Tuesday.
“Working with IT security experts, we have identified the variant to be a relatively new form of ransomware known as Nefilim.
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Toll Group rebuilding core systems used for its online operations
By Ry Crozier on May 6, 2020 3:46PM
After Nefilim ransomware infection.
Toll Group is having to rebuild the core systems that underpin most of its online operations following an infection with a type of ransomware called Nefilim.
The logistics giant said on Wednesday afternoon it is manually cleaning affected servers and systems “and restoring files from backups”.
It has already said it will not pay the ransom demanded by attackers.
“As we continue to investigate the details of the ransomware attack that led us to disable various IT systems, we’re making good progress in rebuilding the core systems which underpin most of Toll’s online operations,” it said.
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AFP says third-party system intrusion behind early-access super fraud
As many as 150 victims identified, accounts frozen.
The Australian Federal Police has revealed that a third-party system intrusion led to a small number of fraudulent applications to the government’s early access superannuation scheme.
The Australia Taxation Office on Wednesday evening said the fraudulent activity had been detected after a “small number of people … had their personal details unlawfully used”.
It said while ATO systems had not been hacked, which ATO commissioner Chris Jordan reiterated that at the senate inquiry into the government’s COVID-19 response on Thursday.
“As far as we know, our systems have not been compromised, however … there are obviously people in intermediaries that have access to our systems,” Jordan said.
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Toll Group extends ransomware recovery into next week
Reactivates one of its core systems.
Toll Group will use next week to progressively restore its customer-facing applications like MyToll after managing to recover one of the core IT systems underpinning its online operations.
The company said late yesterday it had managed “the full and secure reactivation of one of our core IT systems” after it was infected with ransomware called Nefilim at the start of the week.
“With that in place, our focus is on bringing our customer-facing applications online as a matter of priority,” it said in an advisory.
“At this stage, we expect these applications will be progressively restored and tested throughout next week.
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Giving thanks to our eHealth IT All Stars
eHealthNews.nz is encouraging readers to show their appreciation for some of the unsung heroes of the health system’s response to Covid-19 – IT staff and teams.
Ministry of Health deputy director general Shayne Hunter is the first to says thanks on behalf of the Ministry, “to the many people and organisations who have stepped up big time, in what can be described only as extraordinary circumstances.
He says, “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”.
Examples include; 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; 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.
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Covid-19 digital response – community care
Sunday, 3 May 2020
eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth
In our second round-up of news from health providers across New Zealand during Covid-19, eHealthNews.nz focuses on how they are using data and digital services to provide care in the community.
Government funds eMental health tools
The Government is funding the use of three eMental health tools for Kiwis wanting to look after their mental wellbeing as a result of change and uncertainty from COVID-19.
The tools are: the Mentemia app developed by former All Black Sir John Kirwan; a self-management platform from Melon Health; and an e-therapy programme called Staying on Track.
They are being funded by the initial $500m Covid-19 response health package, announced prior to the lockdown.
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Spinal Cord Injuries Australia turns to telehealth therapy during COVID-19 pandemic
Dean Koh | 06 May 2020
Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its mission to continue to deliver usual support services and therapies available to people with a disability, Spinal Cord Injuries Australia (SCIA) has rapidly transformed operations in order to be able to offer an array of digital support – including remote telehealth services – to its 2,300 members and 1000 clients across the country.
WHY IT MATTERS
SCIA provides critical care and support to its members and clients; in the last financial year it managed more than 21,000 customer interactions. Its NeuroMoves exercise program, designed to build health, mobility and independence of people with spinal injuries delivered 23,514 hours of exercise therapy.
By shifting to a telehealth model, SCIA has been able to leverage Microsoft Teams for a number of group sessions and deliver both one-one-one and group therapies for up to three people, helping to preserve the physical and mental wellbeing of its members.
By shifting to a telehealth model, SCIA has been able to leverage Microsoft Teams for a number of group sessions and deliver both one-one-one and group therapies for up to three people, helping to preserve the physical and mental wellbeing of its members.
Advice from the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission and the Federal Department of Health prompted SCIA to temporarily suspend NeuroMoves’ face to face sessions in late March.
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Thursday, 07 May 2020 11:46
NBN downloads set new record
NBN Co has revealed that download throughput reached a new high in the week of 27 April 2020.
Evening downloads on the NBN were clocked at 13.9Tbps between 27 April and 3 May 2020.
That's 26% higher than the pre-COVID baseline.
One contributor to the new peak was the arrival of updates to a number of popular video games.
"Like many industries, the local gaming sector relies on the NBN and retail networks to help deliver their products to customers. NBN Co and participating internet retailers are well prepared for the release of future updates and patches," said NBN Co chief residential customer officer Brad Whitcomb.
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NBN Co must hand over more data on 'impaired' fixed-line services
By Ry Crozier on May 5, 2020 12:00PM
In its customer base.
NBN Co will soon have to hand over much more detailed information to regulators about the number of fixed-line services it operates that are “impaired” by congestion or other technical limitations.
The information will be used by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for additional cross-checking of data collected through its own broadband monitoring scheme.
This should provide a clearer picture of how representative its findings are across the broader NBN fixed-line network.
For a while now, the ACCC - through its regular Measuring Broadband Australia reports [pdf] - has tried to identify underperforming services in its monitoring scheme.
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Key lessons from bushfire failures
When devastating bushfires hit Australia over summer, our fixed line and mobile phone networks came under great pressure.
At the peak in early January, some 150 mobile base stations across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia were off the air – and over 20,000 NBN services were down.
The failures were very visible. When busy holiday towns on the NSW south coast and eastern Victoria lost mobile service, it made a bad situation worse.
Locals and tourists lost contact with friends and family. When EFTPOS terminals (many of which run over mobile networks) went down, people could not buy food or fuel.
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A quantum leap: local success a good news story amid all the coronavirus gloom
This week’s column is not about the coronavirus and its impact on the economy for once. Instead, it’s about a small, $70m market cap ASX-listed company named Archer Materials that is entirely unaffected by the pandemic.
A week ago Archer was valued at about half that, but on Tuesday the stock doubled when it became the first Australian business to be admitted into IBM’s Q network, the group of global organisations that are collaborating to develop quantum computing: outfits like Daimler, ExxonMobil, JPMorgan, Samsung and Accenture.
Archer has a board of three, a staff of eight, $2.2m in the bank and costs $150,000 a month to run. Nevertheless, CEO Mohammad Choucair and technology chief Martin Fuechsle appear to be leading in the global race to build a room-temperature quantum computing chip, based on a 2016 idea by Choucair, which is why this tiny Australian firm with almost no money was invited to join the giants in the IBM Q Network.
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Enjoy!
David.
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