The rise of Informational technology in its diverse form and shape has led its integrations within the domain of public health care to benefit citizens in many different ways. IT and Health have joined hands in many different ways. Usage of IT systems to better manage patients’ data and medical journals have made it easier to read patients history and also has helped remove barrier of location by instant sharing of medical journals through digital channels. The usage of advanced statistical techniques within the domain of health care has resulted in building AI supported decision making systems that help diagnose the health issues better than ever before, usage of such decision support systems has particularly helped with respect to applying preventive measures for the patients.

IT systems are embedded in a wide range of medical equipment and the rise of the Internet of Things technology has supported connectivity of those devices which further amplifies the benefits gained from the medical equipment. Development in the fields of micro hardware like sensors, data analytics techniques, and microprocessors together has made it possible to develop small devices like a watch that can measure your heartbeat 24 hours and keep track of individual’s personal well-being around the clock.

Countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Norway have public systems that keep an online record of each citizen and access to their medical and personal journal is well controlled and protected by state of the art IT security systems as well as legislations that are laid by the governments.

Such usage of IT for public health and its adaption at the national level poses ongoing challenges of maintaining the privacy of individuals due to the very sensitive nature of personal data. Policymakers have to keep pace with the technology to maintain the trust of the public in such systems.

NISS has identified this area to be one of the key areas where developing countries can benefit from experience gained by Nordic countries. NISS aims to work close to public and private health institutions in developing countries and facilitate a process of knowledge and technique sharing between the Nordic and developing countries.