Behind every frontline health and wellbeing team are kaimahi working to keep the wheels turning. Information technology (IT) is one of these essential supports.
In April 2023 Te Piki Oranga welcomed Mike Fulop to the Waimeha tari team, as Kaituitui Hangarau Whakāturanga, IT Coordinator.
Kia ora Mike, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am married to Tracey, have four children and one cat and live fully off-grid on a farm in the Tasman region near Ngātīmoti. I grew up mainly in Auckland and moved to Nelson four years ago after my māmā passed away. Her passing was the catalyst for my journey of Taha Māori, tikanga and whakapapa, and I am looking forward to continuing that journey with Te Piki Oranga.
Ko Mangatawhiri Te Maunga
Ko Te Tai Tamahine Te Moana
Ko Te Arawa Te Waka
Ko Ngāti Hei Te Iwi
Ko Te Rā Matiti Marae
Nō Hauraki Ahau
Ko Mike Fulop toku ingoa
How did you get to be where you are today?
I was exposed to IT early on in my career as a draughtsman and was captivated by the IT in that job. So I applied for an IT admin role, which basically meant I changed floppy disks (remember those?) and organised the printer paper. Thus, my career in IT was launched!
I progressed into application development as I was fascinated in creating computer programs and moved into hardware as an IT support technician because I liked to build and fix machines. Combining the two skills lead me to become a computer engineer then the opportunity to manage people like me presented itself and I became a manager.
After moving to Nelson I worked two seasons in the hops industry and then two years in the NZ Customs Service. My love of IT and the opportunity to work for Te Piki Oranga with their inspirational values and commitment to kaimahi cultural capability drew me back and I’m excited to be a part of this whānau.
How does your mahi line up with the Te Piki Oranga kitenga – Me whakahaumanu te mana o te whānau a, ka haere whakamua (Revitalise whānau for their future)?
My job is one of service to Te Piki Oranga. By exploring what works for our kaimahi, reducing the technological challenges, and improving processes and tools, I can help our kaimahi focus on their core roles of working with our whānau.
What is something that people might not know or appreciate about the kind of mahi you do?
Even with the best laid plans, things fail, and usually at the worst time! For instance, the other day the video conferencing equipment, that had been working perfectly ok, decided to fail minutes before an important meeting – so trying to fix it and remain calm while all eyes are on you is one of the many different challenges we face.
Diagnosing an IT issue can be difficult but also funny. One time a computer kept crashing during the evening and all attempts at diagnosis failed. We swapped out the machine but the issue carried on!
Eventually we set up a camera and discovered that the cleaner would come in at night and pull out the computer plug to connect the vacuum cleaner which solved the mystery.
Is ‘health IT’ a thing?
Definitely! Health IT or health information technology is the use of a broad range of technologies in health and healthcare, which includes the secure storage and retrieval of clinical data, and the exchange of health information in an electronic environment.
Is IT a good career for rangatahi to be thinking about?
Yes, IT offers multiple career paths and opportunities with new technologies constantly being developed and adopted. It is our rangatahi, who will be at the forefront of these advances both in their development and use, and it is their young and agile minds that will transport us along with them to places we have yet to imagine.
Any final thoughts?
In all my years of mahi in the IT space the most important aspect I have learnt is he tāngata, he tāngata. This applies to IT in the way IT supports people to do their jobs and this can apply to IT – "IT is the people, IT is the people".
To me, thinking about IT in this way is fundamental to how we should approach IT in relation to our whānau.
