Last Wednesday’s technical glitch in the Macao Health Code system, which delayed hundreds of travellers at the Barrier Gate border checkpoint, was due to flaws in the system’s design.
Due to the system failure at that time, smartphone users were unable to generate their health codes.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said that the government had ordered InfoMacro Information Technology – the IT company hired by the Health Bureau to design and operate the Macao Health Code system – to submit a report about Wednesday’s technical glitch.
In addition to design flaws, Ao Ieong said that the malfunction was also due to problems with the company’s management in the Macao Health Code system’s operation.
The policy secretary said that the IT company had failed to carry out a good job in the system’s pressure tests as well as in crisis management in case of a technical failure.
Ao Ieong underlined that the government had learnt from Wednesday’s incident, pledging that in the future the government, in collaboration with the IT company, will always ensure that tests and other preparatory tasks have been properly carried out before rolling out major changes to the Macao Health Code system.
She also said that a good management plan in system engineering was needed for preventing similar incidents from occurring again.
InfoMacro Information Technology has apologised for the glitch, and admitted that Wednesday’s malfunction of the health code system was due to insufficient tests and preparatory work.
The company pledged to improve the design, management and operation of the Macao Health Code system, The Macau Post Daily reported.
