Business First Summer 2017 Business First Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 52

DIGITAL
Tech For Good: techies help solve
social problems
A
new Tech for Good project has
successfully developed nine prototype
digital applications that have the
potential to create a huge positive impact in
Northern Ireland.
The projects are varied and wide ranging
from a tourism app to connect the public with
a community wildflower garden to a web
portal for victims of domestic violence. All
have a common theme – to use digital
technology to reach a much larger number of
people and create a bigger impact on
communities in Northern Ireland.
Through the Social Innovation NI Techies in
Residence Programme, funded by the
Building Change Trust and managed by
Innovate NI, talented people from the
Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise
(VCSE) Sector were paired with digital
specialists in order to tackle unique problems
by using innovative solutions to create real
social impact.
As a global phenomenon Tech for Good is
an exciting, growing concept making a huge
difference to a range of causes. Northern
Ireland is playing catch up with the rest of the
UK but starting to make real progress,
especially since the Building Change Trust
began exploring this area in 2013.
The Building Change Trust’s Paul
Braithwaite explains: “Northern Ireland has
some of the most exciting tech companies
with a huge amount of knowledge and
creativity. Our VCSE sector knows social
challenges inside out but there isn’t enough
tech knowledge in many organisations. Tech
for Good is about the application of
technology directly to the mission­related
work of the VCSE Sector – making a real
difference to people’s lives.”
So far two rounds of the Techies in
Residence project have been held with a third
coming in the autumn. Five of the groups
have since been awarded a total of nearly
£70,000 further funding through the Social
Innovation NI Seed Fund to help them take
their digital applications to the next level.
The projects have not only created new
digital applications but it has also generated
interesting conversations about what is
possible and how very different organisations
can collaborate for positive outcomes.
Arthritis Care worked with Blackstaff
Games to create an app aimed at young
people under the age of 16 who have arthritis
– there are approximately 500 youngsters
with this condition which is seen as an older
person’s disease.
“When we started this project, we didn’t
know what was possible and this has grown
into such an exciting opportunity that really
50 www.businessfirstonline.co.uk
Arlene Mooney from Learning Pool serves up a healthy snack to David Meade, who narrated the cookery
demonstration done by the SWEET team, Julie White and facilitator Patricia Mahon.
has the potential to impact the lives of young
people and their families,” explained Arthritis
Care’s Catherine Wright.
Arthritis Care is one of the organisations
awarded additional funding and they are now
in the process of testing the app.
The process of converting classroom
learning into an online platform was a
challenge for social enterprise Specialisterne
NI who were teamed up with Logicearth with
the aim of creating a platform that would
allow them to expand the reach of their
workshops to a wider audience.
Sharon Didrichsen, manager of
Specialisterne NI explained: “We train
managers in understanding social
communication differences in the workplace
in relation to autism. Logicearth really
challenged us and got us to dig deeper. We
really had to think innovatively on how we
deliver training in this new format.”
Working with tech company Learning Pool,
gave The Old Library Trust the opportunity to
bring in David Meade as narrator for their
prototype elearning SWEET tool to tackle
childhood obesity.
David Meade said: “I’ve enjoyed a great
partnership with Learning Pool over the last
three years, and jumped at the chance to get
involved in their Techies in Residence
programme with the SWEET Project. As a
former food professional myself, and a busy
dad, I understand implicitly the importance of
nutritional balance in our diet. This
programme has a very real opportunity to
make a huge impact to the communities and
families involved.”
Many of the techies involved with the
programme also felt the benefits of this
unique collaboration and using their skills to
help make social changes.
Ciaran Murray, owner of Creative Metrics,
worked with the NOW Project to help the
organisation develop a digital version of its
JAM (Just a Minute) Card. The digital version
turned the card into an app which makes it
easier to use but also allowed people to rate
and rank the service they used, potentially
turning it into a kind of Trip Advisor for
accessibility. The clear potential of the app
led to successful funding applications with
both Big Lottery Fund and Nominet Trust
totalling £100,000.
Ciaran said: “The original card had no
actual ‘smart’ features or RFID to record
usage. I like the appeal of adding analytical
insight about how the JAM card is used in the
community by creating a companion digital
version which will provide feedback and
statistics to NOW about how the card is
actually used.”
More information on Techies in Residence
is available at www.socialinnovationni.org