Published on the 03/08/2016 | Written by Donovan Jackson
The march to New Zealand becoming an efficient digital nation is being strangled by selfish interests, charges Bennet Medary…
While government is frequently seen as both the solution for large scale issues and simultaneously the obstacle, Medary believes the current administration is on the right track. “One of the biggest advocates for a more effective nation is Bill English [and his ‘data highway’]. I can’t tell you how much I support his policy initiatives, programmes and work through Treasury, where he is looking to gain insights from public sector information to identify and target interventions that make a difference on an individual basis. With information technology, we can do that now.”
The ‘data sharing’ projects initiated by the government don’t generally benefit from the enthusiasm of a tech industry insider. Indeed, they tend to drive fear-mongering headlines (like The government is watching you’) in the mainstream media and inspire shrieks of outrage from some on the more lunatic fringe.
But in Medary’s view, it is precisely this sort of approach which has to continue, and that has little to do with the party lines of those sitting on the Treasury benches. “One of the biggest [paths to a digital nation] is for cabinet and government to continue along these lines. They need to continue promoting, supporting and encouraging use of technology and information in the public sector. This isn’t just about efficiency, it is about achieving improved outcomes and insights by joining agencies, focusing on specifics individuals, families and communities for evidence that can drive better interventions and support where necessary.”
Technology, said Medary, isn’t an issue. “We can do it tomorrow. The technology is there, the transactions and the data is there.”
Welcome to planet FUD
Instead, the barriers come from something frequently associated with the tech industry: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. Good old FUD, in this case, isn’t only rooted in industry players, but elsewhere; Medary targets (faceless) bureaucrats and petty commercial interests.
“There is historical control-oriented fear and doubt which is raised by naysayers. These people are torpedoing benefits to New Zealand society to retain control. Some are trying to stall progress whilst they position for commercial advantage and that is also not acceptable. Those who know the possibilities and know the opportunity cost in financial and societal terms are besides themselves with frustration. It is tantamount to criminal neglect in terms of the benefits that are being denied to NZ Inc.”
He said excuses come from agencies, bureaucrats and others who seek to forestall progress and retain control. “They don’t have answers and they get away with it as they are not accountable to New Zealand, for the opportunity cost they create through delay (money saved, social improvements and so on). It is criminal and unacceptable.”
Medary said that in his opinion, politicians and citizens in the know are saying ‘enough is enough’; it’s time to push past the detractors to achieve outcomes that will benefit all of New Zealand – using techniques, tactics and indeed technology which is being adopted by businesses pursuing similar advantages.
Tech’s uniquely transversal impact
Medary pointed out that the transversal nature of IT, which can and does have something to do with just about any and every line of business, gives it perhaps unparalleled power for change – and not only in the government sector.
“The technology sector enables other services and outcomes for society in general. So, while it may generate GDP and export dollars directly, there are even greater benefits through enabling the other sectors in the public and private economy.”
He cites NZTech’s own Digital Nation Report as providing insights into those benefits.
“If we just look at what the improved involvement of IT in the health sector can do, as an example, there is a massive opportunity to make a dramatic difference in outcomes per dollar.”
Medary said billions of dollars are squandered in just this sector alone. “Thirty percent of health spending, is waste. That’s a global statistic and in New Zealand it is no different. In monetary terms, that is a big, big number, $4.8 billion wasted.”
Digitise as far as you can and a large portion of those billions of dollars can go towards making a difference, rather than swirling down the drain. And, in healthcare and social services, better efficiency also means a haler (yes, it’s a word) healthier population, – one which remembers to take its meds rather than letting them quietly expire in the bathroom cabinet.
It is these sort of transversal impacts that Medary believes are necessary to turn New Zealand into a truly digital nation. Whether it is healthcare, construction, education, manufacturing, you name it, optimal use of all the tech industry has to offer can, he believes, make the country’s business sectors as competitive on the global stage as the All Blacks are.
He reiterated, “There is a massive opportunity to dramatically lift our prosperity and wellbeing, achieve better outcomes, reduce waste and lower costs by bringing technology to bear. We should go and grab that with both hands as a proudly digital nation.”
