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At TL Tech we’ve been on fairly a journey on the subject of supporting know-how adoption, going from putting in tech in folks’s homes to creating DIY assets to empower folks to have a go themselves establishing tech options just like the Amazon Alexa sensible audio system.
We’ve additionally had the pleasure of collaborating with organisations on their tech journeys and we’re actually excited to see momentum rising within the client electronics house, selling its use as a software in offering folks with better company and independence. For us, know-how shouldn’t be about monitoring however ought to really feel supportive and interesting, folks must take pleasure in utilizing it.
On this weblog, I’ll share a few of our prime ideas on the subject of know-how adoption for wholesome ageing and social care and spotlight some initiatives which are serving to to deal with the abilities the business might want to meet future demand.
There are 4 areas (and a bonus fifth) which are actually necessary on the subject of profitable tech adoption at a client degree:
- Establish champions in your organisation and throughout the community of individuals you help to steer this, don’t make it about formal issues – essentially the most profitable method to assist folks attempt new tech is to seek out the issues that they take pleasure in, like music, cooking and calling household. Then go from there as their confidence grows.
- Be sure that to have a dialog about privateness and knowledge issues and have the ability to help folks to make knowledgeable selections about how their knowledge is managed. Should you need assistance with this you’ll be able to take a look at our guides on cyber safety (https://www.tltechsmart.com/2020/06/14/smart-home-security-tips/) and likewise handle Alexa knowledge (https://www.tltechsmart.com/assist/alexa-deleting-recordings/).
- Take into consideration establishing a tech house the place folks can see gadgets, and a tech library for folks to check out gadgets at residence. We now have a tremendous Sensible Caravan, that’s fitted out with tech, that acts like a cellular showroom.
- Lastly, don’t get caught up in all of the hype about ChatGTP and generative AI. There was an enormous progress in consciousness about these applied sciences although they’ve been round for some time. My recommendation would all the time deal with the use instances and begin easy, somewhat than overcomplicating and over-engineering options. We’re requested about applied sciences like ChatGTP rather a lot now and are conscious of among the limitations and points. There may be in fact a problem with knowledge privateness, notably for delicate info like well being knowledge and the language fashions can get a bit of too inventive, having what folks within the conversational AI sphere name hallucinations. Based on Google’s Bard, TL Tech have received an FSB Scotland Enterprise Excellence Award and are on the Scottish Enterprise Enterprise Development Accelerator, whereas now we have received awards and been on accelerators, neither of those two info are true. We’re wanting on the Generative AI use instances for our Kindspace utility and the ALISS My Scottish Neighborhood voice app. These may very well be good candidates as now we have our personal current databases on which to coach the language mannequin. Undoubtedly be curious, however don’t suppose that ChatGPT is the magic reply to each tech or knowledge drawback.
Above all, just remember to embrace your key stakeholders in what you’re doing and be guided by their enter and suggestions. We now have expertise in main co-design workshops and engagement periods to assemble enter on necessities and views on know-how utilization. If that is one thing you’d like help with, we’re joyful to share in additional element our classes discovered.
We’re acutely conscious that with the rising variety of houses adopting sensible residence options and the elevated use of client electronics to help folks of their houses that we’ll want extra folks with the abilities to design, set up and most significantly preserve these programs.
Colleges Outreach
Inspiring the youthful era is one thing we’re actually enthusiastic about at TL Tech. Many colleges wrestle with STEM topics as lecturers can lack confidence of their talents to ship actions in additional advanced areas like science and engineering. We’ve created some assets for lecturers together with an inclusive design exercise, the place the younger persons are inspired to design a sensible house that caters to the wants of the folks utilizing the house. We get them to think about what the design necessities could be if they’d sight loss for instance, or if they’d mobility difficulties. What would make the house work higher for everybody so that folks felt included it doesn’t matter what their talents have been?
Our most enjoyable useful resource is our sensible dolls home. Youngsters and grown-ups can have a play and get an perception into the world of sensible residence engineering. There’s a mini programmable TV display screen and disco lights within the attic.
You probably have an occasion deliberate and also you’d like us to return together with our sensible dolls home, we’d be delighted to help you. We have been just lately in Fife for a Household Enjoyable Day organised by the Aberdeen Science Centre.
Additional and Greater Training
For the time being, there aren’t any direct research pathways to turn into a sensible residence engineer. Studying sometimes utilises on-line assets and making use of them on the job, with folks coming into the fields from different areas comparable to electrical and digital engineering.
We have been delighted to work with Fraserburgh faculty to construct a sensible residence instructing useful resource that permits college students to see how quite a lot of sensible residence applied sciences work, the place they will programme their very own automations and the Perspex on the again permits them to be taught in regards to the wiring and {hardware} connections.
We’ve additionally related with our native universities to share an perception into the work we do and to collaborate with the scholars on tasks that depend in the direction of their coursework. Final yr we labored with three groups of scholars who created a mock-up of a dashboard system that might enable folks to see an outline of their knowledge from their interactions with Kindspace on their smartspeaker. We tackle summer time college students repeatedly on paid placements and presently have an apprentice working with us.
New Skilled Pathways
Maybe essentially the most thrilling initiative in the meanwhile is the Care Technologist programme led by Scottish Care. Sooner or later, all care organisations may have groups that can lead know-how adoption for the folks that they help and to assist be sure that their carers have extra time to ship personalised care to people. I’d encourage you to get in contact with the staff at Scottish Care to seek out out extra about how they’re defining this new skilled pathway.
Right here’s a hyperlink with additional info on the mission: https://scottishcare.org/the-care-technologist-project/
Among the best issues about working on this discipline is with the ability to make a tangible distinction in folks’s lives. We don’t need folks to overlook out on the advantages of know-how as a result of they really feel overwhelmed or apprehensive about how the know-how works. And we don’t need folks to suppose it’s too costly as typically the easy and extra inexpensive options work 1,000,000 occasions higher than one thing extra digital and built-in. Beginning small with a single use case and constructing from there’s a completely legitimate strategy, the identical goes for anybody trying to get right into a profession on this discipline. Be inquisitive like now we have been and also you by no means know the place it’d lead.
