Sparked Bright Sparks: Nicole Sun

We spoke to Nicole about her involvement in the Sparked Community, here’s what she had to say!

❓What is your background?

I have over a decade of experience as a software developer for EMR systems. I am now a Sales Engineer at InterSystems, focusing data platform and healthcare interoperability solutions.

❓ How did you first hear about Sparked and what made you want to become involved?

I first heard about Sparked through my colleague, who encouraged me to get involved. After learning more about the program, I saw it as a great opportunity to engage with broader healthcare interoperability community, learning from others while also contributing our experience to the real-world digital health challenges.

❓ What do you see as the best outcomes that Sparked has delivered or is working towards?

Sparked has successfully brought together clinicians, vendors, and government to co-design practical FHIR standards. It’s driving real-world interoperability by creating implementable , consensus-based frameworks that support national adoption.

❓ How is Sparked different to projects you’ve been involved in before?

Sparked is different because of its open, collaborative approach and strong focus on real-world implementation. It brings technical and clinical stakeholders together from the start to co-design standards that are practical, nationally aligned, and ready for adoption.

❓ What is something you’ve learnt from being part of the Sparked community?

Being a part of the Sparked community has shown me the power of collaboration across clinical, technical and policy domains. I have learned how early alignment between stakeholders can lead to more practical, scalable, and widely accepted interoperability solutions.

❓ Can you share one of your favourite or memorable moments from participating in Sparked?

A highlight for me was meeting experienced clinicians and technical experts and having the chance to discuss real-world healthcare challenges with them. The depth of insight and collaboration in those conversations was truly valuable.

❓ What excites you most about the future with Sparked?

What excites me most is the potential for nationwide adoption of the standards we are helping to shape. Seeing consistent, interoperable data exchange become a reality across Australia will be a major step forward for digital health.

❓ What’s something unexpected that you’ve learnt/been a part of/connected with through Sparked?

One unexpected insight has been seeing how different organisations bring unique, real-world considerations to digital health. It’s been eye-opening to understand the diverse priorities, challenges, and workflows that shape healthcare across Australia.

❓ How would you explain Sparked to someone not yet involved?

Sparked is a national initiative that brings people from healthcare together to create shared digital standards. It’s all about improving how health information is connected and used, so care can be safer, faster, and more coordinated.

❓ What piece of advice would you share to someone who may not yet be a part of Sparked?

I would encourage them to get involved, as it’s a good opportunity to help shape national standards with real-world impact. At the same time, it’s a good opportunity to connect with other experts.

❓ If you had to describe Sparked in three words, what would they be?

Collaborative, Standards, Impactful

❓ If Sparked had a theme song, what would it be?

Maybe… Up&Up (for the togetherness)

❓ Describe Sparked using only emojis

🧑‍⚕️🩺🤝👩‍💻⚙️📊🔄💡🌟🇦🇺 (clinicians and tech experts collaborating on structured data and standards to enable better data sharing, driving innovation across Australia.)