Newcastle City Council is taking part in a programme to support the development of digital projects to improve the quality of life for older people.
It is one of the partners behind an accelerator to run over the next six months and aimed at producing solutions to tackle issues such as dementia and symptom management.
The programme is being led by the Innovation SuperNetwork – part of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership – with the National Innovation Centre for Ageing at Newcastle University, innovation network Aging2.0 and venture capitalist Northstar Ventures also acting as partners.
The council has highlighted that the first cohort of businesses has moved into the Biosphere facility to work on developing their proposals.
A group of digital projects is included in the cohort:
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CPSidekick has developed an app to help people dealing with chronic conditions to track their symptoms.
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Your Health and Care is a ‘memory life’ platform aimed at people with dementia and other neurological conditions.
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Mistura Informatics is launching a digital health information system named MaPPS to provide medicine information and supporting tools.
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ActivCare Coaching is developing a digital platform to support carers and volunteers in helping older people.
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Smart2City is working on Mind3r, an immersive technology to integrate mindfulness and meditation to help people deal with stress related issues.
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MyFolks, a database of ‘supporters’ of older people.
Northstar Ventures is offering the companies a chance to secure £12,500 from the North East Innovation Fund to help cover development costs. SuperNetwork will provide advice on the commercial aspects of the projects and help in finding grant funding.
The accelerator is scheduled to run until October.
Simon Green, chief executive officer of the Innovation SuperNetwork, said: “The next step is to support the companies, through an environment of collaboration, with tailored business support to help bring these products and services to market and prepare for further investment. By the end of the year we hope to see these nine, potentially life changing, ideas come to commercial realisation.”
Image: First group moving into the Biosphere; from Newcastle City Council
