ICTC’S FUTURE OF CANADA SERIES
Cybersecurity, Healthcare and Our New Office Environment
An Exploration of COVID-19’s Impact on Healthcare, Workplace Safety and Digital Safety
This series was produced in response to the COVID-19 crisis in the Spring of 2020.
As provinces in Canada begin to reopen their economies and evaluate the implications of opening too soon or too quickly, we find ourselves as a nation rushing forward in the hopes of a speedy economic recovery. As policymakers weigh the benefits and risks of reopening public parks, schools, and various public services, corporations also find themselves considering new ways of conducting business. These considerations however present new challenges. As cybersecurity issues foster important dialogue surrounding the health and well being of public and private infrastructure, its implications in daily operations cannot be overstated.
Some businesses are evaluating the benefits of preserving their social distancing protocols (except for online retail/sales,) in light of having received positive feedback. Whether the motivation is to protect staff in anticipation of a second wave of COVID-19, or to increase revenue, the value of digital infrastructure and safety remains consistent. While online sales in Canada continues to experience this dramatic increase, a higher volume of potential risks to personal privacy also occurs.
This final installment of the Information and Communication Technology Council’s (ICTC) “Future of Canada” series explores the issue of cybersecurity, workplace safety, and the implications of technology on the future of Canadian healthcare. Likewise, this final installment couldn’t have been possible without the generous help of its various contributors. Each week has presented illuminating insights on various issues surrounding technology and COVID-19, presenting a foundation for what are likely to become recurring themes in technology and economic recovery circles. As we conclude, be sure to keep an eye open for ICTC’s continuing coverage of COVID-19’s impacts on Canada’s technology ecosystem and subscribe to our Medium channel at ICTC’s Digital Policy Salon.
The following installment highlights the contributions of industry leaders: Pearl Almeida, Rosina Hamoni, and Dr. Samantha Liscio on the digital transition to “work from home” environments, cybersecurity implications for Canadian business, and new ways of evaluating the relationship between technology and the healthcare system.
How Technology is Positively Influencing Social, Educational and Economic Trends in a Post-COVID-19 Canada
By Samantha Liscio, PhD — WSIB Ontario
Getting about 4,000 people effectively mobilized to work from home is a near Herculean effort. Doing that in just over a week could only have happened with a crisis like COVID-19.
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board is one of the largest insurance organizations in North America, covering over five million people in more than 300,000 workplaces across Ontario and processing more than 150,000 claims per year. Injured workers and their families in Ontario rely on the WSIB, with our responsibility to reduce the disruption and devastation caused by workplace injuries and illnesses.
The COVID-19 crisis required that this essential work continue uninterrupted and involved getting a workforce across 16 regional offices working effectively from home. Having a robust technology infrastructure and cloud-based collaboration tools already in place was key in the set-up of our new ‘work-from-home organization’. Technology was able to help drive critical decision making in real-time to enable the organization to deliver critical services uninterrupted by extending significantly the number of staff set up to work from home.
Almost overnight, the company has changed from being a paper-based organization to being technology based, relying on tools such as Office 365 in the cloud, Microsoft Teams, and a stable VPN to enable on-demand communication and remote collaboration. Although these tools were available before COVID-19, they were not the default option for many people. Nor were many people comfortable turning to these tools except as secondary options. In the “new normal” of social distancing, an “in-person meeting” culture has changed to embrace videoconferencing and instant messaging, chat boards and online, cloud-based collaboration.
The company is taking advantage of this culture shift to think longer-term about mobile work arrangements. The WSIB is planning to have people return to work when the crisis abates in a different workplace with a smaller footprint, leveraging work-from-home as the rule rather than the exception. The future may be one of a mobile workforce mostly working from home and returning to offices with shared spaces and common, collaboration areas, all technology enabled.
The crisis also creates the opportunity to reimagine services to customers that either do not involve paper or involve less of it. That means more digital services, from authentication and identity and access control to electronic communications and access to personalized information via the web. All of these are currently undergoing proof-of-concept studies or being delivered as minimum viable products using agile delivery methods.
The crisis has accelerated the shift to digital and the associated change in culture to be more accepting of the “new normal.” In addition, it has proved the resiliency of our people and their commitment to the values of the organization, following our WSIB motto: “We’re here to help.”
Cyber Resilience: The Future We’re Forced to Face
By Pearl Almeida, Cybersecurity Professional
As the COVID-19 pandemic escalates, Canada’s cybersecurity posture has been tested by a variety of threat vectors targeting critical infrastructure, businesses, and individuals. Canada experienced a massive and swift shift in business operations due to public health protocols. However, this change produces a valuable learning opportunity for cybersecurity domain transformation in government and businesses.
Tabletop exercises are useful in urging organizations to assess preparedness in the event of an emergent situation. The lockdown thrusts policymakers and businesses into the reality of these exercises, bringing to life the implications of different national security scenarios and the accompanying economic implications. The country was forced to identify essential services, business functions, and critical infrastructure, underscoring the roles and responsibilities of each individual, and enacting surge capacity to protect against cyber threats where necessary. With increased cyberattacks against hospitals, the lockdown highlighted the importance of cybersecurity in critical infrastructure protection more than ever. While cyber resilience is likely focused on the finance and energy sectors due to commercial interest, health and other sectors can also be better equipped for greater cyber resilience.
Lessons from the lockdown are likely to strengthen and reshape future business continuity plans. Entire workforces transitioned to remote-work environments where applicable. While internal corporate policies may exist to support individual employees working from home, enterprises had to adjust to all employees working remotely, taking into account access management, protocols for the use of personal devices, and regular support for network updates, to name a few. This large-scale disruption in the work environment can lead to increased vulnerabilities. With more people using personal computers, having less secure connections than afforded through an employer’s network, and rampant phishing attacks that capitalize on fear, cyber hygiene may be at risk, the outcomes of which can be costly. By being forced to understand the cyber threat index of an enterprise, executives can strengthen incident response mechanisms, risk management, and crisis management plans to reduce the harm against business operations.
The greatest takeaway from this period is understanding that people are at the centre of cybersecurity. We can create all the rules and regulations to govern cyber space, implement stringent security protocols, but cybersecurity boils down to the individual. Educating employees on cyber hygiene is one of the most valuable investments an employer can make in the digital era.
We live in an interconnected world where we learn, work, create, and play online. We need to learn the value of collaborative tools and social networks that support user security as well as creativity and connection. We need to learn to exercise cyber hygiene to effectively secure ourselves as well as our larger network. By capturing the lessons learned within the landscape, implementing strong cybersecurity protocols, and critically analyzing the way that we interact with technology, the future of Canada’s cybersecurity ecosystem will be more resilient.
Telemedicine and Virtual Care Emerging as a New Norm
By Rosina Hamoni, Research Analyst, ICTC
Amid COVID-19 and the accompanying norms of social distancing that restrict direct person-to-person contact, technology is being leveraged in novel ways. For example, many organizations have asked employees to work from home; in my case, a laptop and access to the internet and online meeting platforms are all that I need to complete my daily work.
Perhaps some of the most relevant changes, however, rest with the emergent role of technology in the healthcare industry. Telemedicine — an alternative means to a consultation with a physician, conducted through electronic communications — is a crucial tool to support healthcare workers and patients in a time where healthcare systems around the world are becoming overwhelmed.
The spread of COVID-19 has seen a surge in telemedicine. Telemedicine mediums such as Livecare and Viva care offer Canadian telehealth services and allow patients to see physicians from the comfort of their homes. Telemedicine can be used as a tool by anyone — those who are at high risk for contracting COVID-19, those who believe they have contracted the virus, or those in remote areas who may have to travel long distances to receive in-person care. In particular, telemedicine’s use of real-time technology has enabled regular follow-ups and check-ups for those that do not require a physical examination, leaving it up to the physician to suggest an in-clinic follow-up appointment, if necessary.
Aligning well with social distancing practices, telemedicine can be used for those in isolation or quarantine, allowing patients to stay away from emergency rooms, something that can help prevent overcrowding and bottlenecks in hospitals. During the week of March 23rd, New York had nearly 900 telemedicine calls, compared to only 50 visits before the pandemic. In Canada, policies are being put in place to facilitate the use telemedicine: in BC for example, temporary changes have been made to telehealth fees, allowing claims to be made for consultations under the regular “face-to-face” fee. Many suggest that telehealth will be the new way to visit their physicians.
A post-COVID-19 Canada may be one that comes to expect technology to continue to play an integral role in healthcare. With benefits like reducing healthcare costs, enhanced quality of care with simple follow-ups, and ease of access, telemedicine will likely be an important part of medical care in the future.
ICTC’s Future of Canada Series
In times of crisis and recovery, Canada maintains a strong track record of social advancement. As we find ourselves re-evaluating how we’ll respond to a world permanently altered by a pandemic, the larger outcomes remain unknown. What is clear however, is our need for socially-minded, ethical innovation that moves the needle forward to advance Canada’s evolving digital economy.
Other posts in this series:
*The views and opinions shared as submissions to this article are those of the authors and do no not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC).
