NEC Australia has announced it has secured contracts worth more than $23 million to enhance ICT interconnectivity within the WA public health system (WA Health).

WA Health employs around 44,000 staff in metropolitan, regional and remote areas of the state, the 2.5 million square kilometres served the largest area in the world covered by a single health authority.

NEC Australia was chosen as a crucial delivery partner to transform WA Health’s ICT capabilities up to contemporary standards and provide a connectivity platform for the future under the GovNext-ICT initiative.

This major ICT transition and transformation program across the WA health system is known as “HealthNext” and is being led by shared services provider, Health Support Services (HSS).

NEC Australia’s scope involves connecting 500+ Health sites across regional and remote WA which will contribute to better health care throughout the State.

“NEC is very pleased to partner with WA Health on their transformation journey and we look forward to delivering innovative solutions that underpin their digital services strategy." said NEC Australia's WA State Manager Marcus Ashby.

“NEC Australia has now signed in the vicinity of 180 orders with 35 West Australian government agencies connected to the state’s GovNext strategy.

“This latest partnership with the WA Government is a reflection of its confidence in NEC as a ‘best of breed’ provider of ICT services globally,” Marcus Ashby said.

HSS Chief Information Officer, Holger Kaufmann, said HealthNext will move the WA health system onto a contemporary, scalable and cost-effective hybrid-cloud environment with improved network reliability and security.

“This will provide fast and reliable access to critical health systems while enabling us to better utilise digital innovation to support a more patient-centric and sustainable health system.”

NEC is this year celebrating 50 years in Australia, part of a global brand with 119 years of history internationally.

The ICT upgrade for WA Health by NEC Australia is expected to be completed by late 2020.