Tom Laffan

Tom Laffan is the Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO) in the HSE. This new role in the HSE is a key part of the health reform programme and the government Digital for Care Ireland 2024 – 2030 framework recognising the increased focus on the use of data across health and social care services.

The purpose of this role is to ensure high quality health data that can drive value for all the people who need to use and access data within the health system, while ensuring the right tools and insights are available to all services and staff to maximise this data for the benefit of patients, staff and services.

Tom has many years of health ICT leadership experience and has a long history of working with data, technology and services to deliver improvements in patient care and services. After qualifying with a degree in Applied Computing from Waterford Institute of Technology he started his ICT career in the UK working for a US based software company. From there he gained his first real experience of working in the ICT industry and had the opportunity to engage with many different customers across a range of industries.

Having joined the Health Service in 2001, Tom relocated to Cork and since then he has successfully led out on many different national ICT projects and programmes of work. Before his appointment as CDAO, he was the ICT Delivery Director for the Integrated Information Service and Corporate Services functions.