NewIcon’s ICT Development Manager: “A serious approach to data security is integral to our business culture”

NewIcon has been preparing for the EU’s new data protection regulation for a year, and the preparations are close to the finish line. The regulation itself does not bring significant changes to NewIcon’s data security, as it has always been a vital part of the company’s operations.

What’s new is the description of the process of maintaining data security, with which NewIcon can rapidly control even the worst potential deviations in data security.

“We have defined and scheduled a data security maintenance process that includes daily, weekly, monthly, biannual and annual actions. We have systematic data security inspection points marked in our calendars, up to an inspection by the executive group,” Ari Arokoski, NewIcon’s ICT Development Manager, describes the process.

Data relevant to the business is stored to ERP systems 

In addition to developing data security processes, NewIcon has performed a large-scale data analysis, based on which the processing and storage of personal data files have been unified and streamlined in many departments.

“We have taken all data that is relevant to our business into our central ERP system where we can easily get reports related to personal data. At the same time, we have removed unnecessary data and unused, overlapping data management systems,” Arokoski says.

Data security and the data protection regulation are taken into consideration in automation devices 

NewIcon also takes data security into account in its pharmacy automation technology. Even the product development phase includes a process description of measures to be taken if a new device uses personal data files. Out of the current products, only the eMED ICON automated dispensing cabinet has required a new feature related to the data protection regulation. The feature allows users to print out a personal data report, when necessary.

“Information is the greatest capital our company has, so a serious approach to data security is integral to our business culture,” Arokoski states.