Flagship Fellow Professor Peter Croll

Queensland data safety expert appointed as Flagship Fellow

CSIRO’s Preventative Health National Research Flagship has appointed Queensland data safety expert Professor Peter Croll to ensure the security of its innovative technology which allows the linking of diverse health databases, creating a powerful research tool for population health research and better patient treatment.

Professor Croll, Director of the Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for IT Innovation, is investigating the security and safety aspects relating to the deployment of the CSIRO’s innovative Health Data Integration (HDI) technology.

The web services-based HDI architecture links data from disparate databases under strict privacy and security arrangements to enable enhanced analyses of data to produce new information.

The technology can deliver health outcomes in a wide number of areas, including extracting greater operational value from administrative databases and the mapping of health problems and their impacts over time across wide ranging geographic areas and demographic groups.

Professor Croll’s project aims to ensure that the ‘systems’ in place are appropriate to prevent trust of the data providers and data custodians from being readily or unintentionally eroded.

The systems-wide assessment will include, in addition to technical risks, the administrative, legal and managerial risks. Professor Croll aims to produce a model for ongoing risk assessment procedures that data custodians and other stakeholders can use to ensure all data remains secure.

'Security and privacy are the top e-health issues causing concern to people, due to the sensitive nature of patient information and potential access to it by a wide range of staff,' says Professor Croll.

'Technology to ensure security must be coupled with robust security management policies that are enforced'.

Professor Croll’s appointment has been welcomed by Director of the Preventative Health Flagship, Dr Richard Head. 

'The development of tools and techniques to determine and manage e-health risks is critical to the success of integrated electronic health data systems that health professionals, researchers and patients alike can trust and accept,' Dr Head says.

Professor Croll is the third Fellow appointed to the Preventative Health Flagship. The Fellowship is funded through the Australian Government’s $97 million Flagship Collaboration Fund for partnerships with universities and other publicly funded research agencies. The Flagship is part of CSIRO’s National Research Flagship Program, which is a key element of the Australian Government’s $5.3 billion science and innovation package, Backing Australia’s Ability.

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The Preventative Health Flagship is a CSIRO initiative and part of the National Research Flagships program that aims to deliver scientific solutions to advance Australia's most important national objectives. One of the largest scientific initiatives ever mounted in Australia, it aligns closely with the Federal Government's National Research Priorities. The initiative brings together our national research resources to deliver breakthroughs in fields ranging from healthcare to light metals and the environment.

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