FEATURE
“A journey begins with but a single step” by Mr Laurie Hawkins
Having been successful in getting myriad healthcare stakeholders to share “data” (not patient data) and realising today “the world is all about data”, and seeing the many benefits it brings to strengthen health systems at a local, national and international perspective, so began my journey, which has taken “passion, persistence and perspiration” (true grit) and travels across the world to promote this concept. Now, more than ever, during this COVID-19 global pandemic, we need to “join the dots” by having a multi-agency collaboration across multiple countries using “data” on a single platform. Australia has created its global equivalent to assist the “world”, which is similar to “John Hopkins University”, but has more functionality including “spatial bars” and is based on the Advanced Data Analytics Platform, which is the second initiative for which I have been responsible.
Laurie Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder, AITIA Global.
The proverb that gives this article its title is ascribed to Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer, and teaches that even the longest and most difficult ventures have a starting point; something which begins with one first step.
What I have learned? “Resilience, never give up”, they are just “bumps in the road” from whatever setbacks you have. Surround yourself with positive people and build professional networks, which for me includes 5,000 connections at very senior levels, predominately in the healthcare sector, but many other industry sectors, as well across more than 100 countries.
This is about my journey with AITIA Global, a start-up company I have founded to build on two national digital health initiatives that I have been responsible for in Australia. My goal is to leave a “legacy” that will improve healthcare across our planet.
This led me to a “mentor” of a large Global Health Alliance, who has encouraged me by providing the opportunities to present at major conferences including the European Union Health Conference hosted by Estonia during its Presidency in 2017. Other conferences include Beijing, China, Singapore and Boston.
Following my success in 2011 in getting eight State and Territory Governments, the Federal Government and private healthcare stakeholders to adopt a “National Services Library” (called the National Health Services Directory or NHSD in Australia) for “health and social care services” (Yellowpages) combining public, private and not-for-profit organisations into a “single source of truth” I have wanted to “change the world” for the better. www.graduatehouse.com.au
Not being a “digital native” (defined on Wikipedia as “generally somebody who was born after 1980 and thus raised with the internet”) in today’s connected world, and as Estonia is ranked as the 10
