Crisis Breeds Innovation

It is widely attested that times of crisis breeds innovation. Times of uncertainty provide an environment for us to think differently and address issues that, in the past, we could ignore. The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified operational inefficiencies within businesses and how you react to them may determine the future of your business.

Recently, Google hosted a Public Sector Summit discussing the ways the public sector has been using Google Cloud. One event at the summit stood out to us – a webinar discussing Is It Possible to Innovate and Drive Operational Efficiency?. While the speakers discussed innovation and operational efficiency in the NHS and public sector, their problems are ubiquitous.

Rachel Dunscombe, CEO and Director of NHS Digital Academy and Tektology,  spoke about innovation and operational efficiency at a Google Cloud Public Sector Summit session. What is clear is that Dunscombe encourages us to see innovation and operational efficiency as systemically linked. Moreover, Dunscombe discusses the use of technology to support innovation as well as operational efficiency.

During the webinar, Dunscombe presented the issues faced by the NHS. Namely, unknown capacity and demand as well as unknown delivery models. What was needed was a solution that provided flexibility and agility. Cloud technology allowed the NHS to govern and deploy in an agile way to get things done efficiently.

Cloud technology enabled the flexibility and innovation needed to address issues faced by the NHS, according to Dunscombe. With the use of cloud technology, skilled staff are allocated work based on current needs, thereby improving hospital logistics and increasing operational efficiencies.

Andy Kinnear, UK thought leader, is less optimistic about the possibility of the Covid-19 pandemic driving innovation within the NHS. Kinnear states that while the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of key technologies and has demonstrated the need for these technologies to executives, we must “never let a good crisis go to waste”. What needs to happen, in Kinnear’s view, is that we need to use this opportunity to drive innovation.

The challenges faced by the NHS are not unique to them. If your company is struggling to keep up with changing needs, contact us to discuss cloud solutions and consulting across all major cloud platforms. Our highly accredited team is ready to help you meet your company’s requirements with compliant and dependable solutions.

Angelique Tzanakakis