Reimagining the future with IoT: our CivTech 5.0 Challenge
We know from previous experience that a CivTech challenge offers a wealth of opportunities — to develop your business, gain access to invaluable training, foster new relationships, and most importantly to make a difference to the lives of citizens.
This time there was one challenge that stood out to us from the start:
‘How can digital and IoT help the management of infection control in caring environments so that they become safer for everyone who lives, works and visits in them?’
Over the last few months we’ve been working closely with Eildon Housing Association and IoT Scotland to develop our solution. This is no ordinary time to be embarking on such a challenge, which has of course affected everything along the way — from the development process to the scope of the solution.
I chatted with the rest of the Wallscope team to find out more about our solution, the challenges we’ve faced along the way (including coping without CivTech’s delicious sandwiches) and what we plan to do next…
What was it in particular about this challenge that appealed to you?
Rui: This one stood out because of the opportunity to bring the IoT data into what we do. It’s something that’s getting bigger and bigger across different markets, so that offers good opportunities for us. I think Covid has contributed to that as well because of the need to control things at a distance.
Also from a societal point of view, the challenge was a cool idea — how can we use IoT and other data sources to provide better care and avoid people going to hospital unnecessarily.
Dorota: Using our technology to assist Eildon’s tenants, some of whom have special needs or conditions, who want to stay self-sufficient as much as possible. I think Wallscope and Eildon’s goals matched well in this aspect of the project.
What does Wallscope’s tech offer to this challenge that others couldn’t?
Rui: Definitely our data integration capabilities and ‘data first’ approach. We can provide a view of different data sources, which gives Eildon functionality that will help them make decisions based on the holistic picture, not just certain indicators assessed by certain people at certain times. It just adds to confusion if it’s stored in silos instead of contributing to the bigger picture.
Can you talk us through the solution in a nutshell?
Antero: Our solution is a product called ‘Clare’, built using Wallscope’s platform for data discovery. Using knowledge graph technologies, it integrates data from existing care planning tools, rota planning software, alarm and door systems with IoT devices. This is placed in a fully managed platform that allows staff to interact with this data to provide a detailed and customised care plan. This can be used to anticipate residents’ needs and tailored to changing circumstances.
Clare enables carers, nurses and even loved ones to gain permissioned access to relevant information collected by any IoT devices. That could be body temperature, heart rate monitors or motion sensors, or even your Fitbit!
Rui: Clare assists Eildon in both defining which IoT devices are useful for each resident’s specific medical needs, and helps staff keep track of these conditions, promoting a much better quality of living.
We are now in the process of rolling out our family dashboard. We understand how difficult it is to be far from a loved one, especially in a lockdown!
How has the plan for the product changed from the start of the Accelerator?
Rui: The challenge was to take the sponsor on the journey from the initial challenge — to understand what the nuances of the challenge are based on our solution.
Antero: There was a slight shift because initially we were very focused on the infection control aspect of it, then quickly we realised that of course that’s very important, but for the longevity of the product and our relationship with Eildon, we would have to focus on other aspects. We shifted into the aspects of daily care and building management that Eildon will always need.
Tell me a bit more about your relationship with your sponsor and how it has evolved over the accelerator process.
Rui: I’ve been really enjoying working with them. On a personal level, they want to do the right things for their business, for their tenants but also for us. They understand the nuances of software development, so they’ve been great clients.
Antero: They want to see this solved as much as we do, but also understand that there are certain challenges and things that are out of our control, especially right now with what’s going on. Given the circumstances I think we’ve had more contact with the sponsors than on previous occasions when we’ve actually been in the same room.
Dorota: We’ve had to replace real face-to-face meetings with calls and online tools helping to find answers to research questions. Because of the Covid situation, we couldn’t speak to all end-users at once, so using the agile method for project research and development has really helped.
Can you describe some of the challenges you’ve faced as a result of the current circumstances? How have you overcome them?
Antero: There are some challenges of course, especially when we are doing research into user needs, it helps a lot to be in the same room and get all those visual cues and body language. But I think we’ve managed to do a good job of translating that into our current circumstances.
We’ve learnt to use new tools that will help us in future with project management and developing remotely with clients. And this process proved to us that we don’t need to be in the same location as our clients, and helped us to find new opportunities and collaborations.
Rui: In this new world, we need to give ourselves more time to do this part of the job. Previously you’d have 10 people in the room from different jobs, and you quickly get a range of perspectives in the room, moving to a full scope idea. This way there are more individual calls and we have to do the matching.
Dorota: Learning new software and methods to allow participants to interact with each other as they would in the real world takes time and sometimes can be frustrating. These are often very different from how we thought and communicated before.
On the other hand I think this new way of working has allowed us to really focus on the broader potential of the product, as well as forcing us to better manage our time and meetings, both with the client and within the Wallscope team.
Antero: Probably important to mention that previous CivTech rounds had some of the best veggie sandwiches which we sadly missed out on this year. I’d suggest that sending them to people’s homes would definitely increase productivity…
What are the most valuable things you have learned from this CivTech journey?
Rui: in terms of business we’ve learnt about a new market, buildings — they have a lot of data and it’s an area we hadn’t really touched on before.
Antero: the way that Eildon sees it, if we care for the buildings we are caring for the people and I think that’s a really good perspective.
What are the next steps for this solution — with Eildon and beyond?
Dorota: We want to focus on including more end-users to help us design a product which best suits the Eildon staff and residents’ needs. We also know that residents’ families could benefit from this tool, using it to provide reassurance around their wellbeing and security, so developing this aspect is a key part of our plans.
Rui: We’ve proven that we understand the challenge, and now we need to deliver on practical use cases so that Eildon can clearly see the benefits of going forward with this solution. There are a number of areas we are currently developing:
- Creating a live staff map, which will help to quickly identity understaffed areas and to identify the closest member of staff in an emergency
- Using our technology to predict likely depletion of stock and give timely re-order warnings, taking into account each supplier’s order to delivery timescales
- Leveraging the network of IoT devices to help Eildon automate some of their legally required health and safety compliance tests, such as legionella testing or water temperature
More widely, as well as rollout in the care sector we are looking to engage with service users and providers in a range of areas. During a time when COVID-19 has impacted the use of buildings, we can see many opportunities to explore use cases in settings such as schools, retail and other public buildings.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Clare or Wallscope’s technology and consulting services, we’d love to have a chat! Drop us a line at contact@wallscope.co.uk
