In recent years, there has been a major global push to improve whole genome sequencing (WGS) infrastructure in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. SARS-CoV-2 WGS has proven to be highly valuable for public health, helping to identify mutations, track new variants, and support vaccine development. Building on this experience, there is now a clear need for a flexible system that can be used to monitor a wide range of pathogens when needed for public health. A key step in improving infectious disease surveillance is connecting and combining different types of data—such as genomic, clinical, and epidemiological information—to get a more complete picture and respond more effectively to future health threats.