PNG Dataco Limited will now be providing secure cloud storage solutions to Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) after signing an agreement last week.
Through this agreement, PMGH will be using PNG Dataco’s data centre infrastructure to host its hospital data and do cloud services on shore.
With the data centre, PNG Dataco bears the risks and responsibilities of maintaining and employing its communication infrastructure, the servers and data storage services which PMGH can lease for a certain period while concentrating more on its core business of providing healthcare services.
Traditionally, organisations engage in the costly exercise of having their own IT rooms with servers and computers to process and store data in-house, the need for regular power backup, a good security system, licencing and the constantly changing ICT sector.
Chief executive officer Mr. Paul Komboi said PNG Dataco’s aim is to downstream technology by providing a secure infrastructure where organisations can be confident to store and access their data in real-time and further ensure data sovereignty.
“Basically, we are now fulfilling the government’s requirements in terms of nationalising our data requirements in the country. And so, we really appreciate Port Moresby General Hospital coming on board and utilising the infrastructure that we’ve already invested,” said Mr. Komboi.
Mr. Komboi encouraged organisations both in the public and private sector to get on board and utilise the data centre infrastructure that is already in place.
PMGH chief executive officer Dr. Paki Molumi emphasized a major issue where during the prolonged blackout recently, “our servers went off and we lost almost two months of data”.
“Having a backup in the cloud is the way to go and we are more proud to be partnering with the national company in PNG,” stressed Dr. Molumi. “It’s stored in our country and we feel confident that we can save our data safely within the country”.
“We are able to go into telemedicine,” explained Dr. Molumi. “We are also doing high-tech radiology, MRI, CT scans and some of the operations we are doing, we are recording them. We have our Hospital Information System where we have a lot of data to store.”
Dr. Molumi said there is a need for training of all categories of health workers and technology can contribute enormously in bridging that gap through online courses or specialists from other hospitals can be consulted to attend to difficult cases without the need to travel.
“So these are some of the impacts that we have seen how technology can improve healthcare for this country and PMGH wants to partner using technology to drive our healthcare service,” he said.
Source: Port Moresby General Hospital FB Page