Dundalk IT project named as one of the best in Europe

Joan Martin of Louth County Council receives the three-star reference site award from EU vice-president Neelie Kroes

An initiative spearheaded in Louth by two Dundalk Institute of Technology research centres has been named as one of the top projects in Europe at an EU awards ceremony for active and healthy ageing practices.

The DKIT-based Netwell and Casala research centres are working alongside University College Cork and others in what is called the Collaboration on Ageing (Collage).

Collage was among 32 initiatives to be named as a ‘reference site’ by the European Commission – but one of only 13 to receive the top three-star status.

EU Commission vice-president Neelie Kroes described the awards as the “Oscars of innovation for ageing” and stressed that Collage and the other recipient projects were paving the way for a healthier and age-friendly society.

“Our regional activities in Louth have established a global reputation for leading new ways in service delivery and collaborations on the ground providing innovative services for older people,” said Rodd Bond, director of the Netwell Centre.

“Working alongside our partners in Collage, we aim to play our part in the EU’s aims to increase the average healthy lifespan of Europeans by two years by 2020.

“The emphasis now is on scaling up the projects and applying them throughout Europe. This will mean providing professional advice to EU member states and regions for the design of their innovation strategies for smart specialisation and enhancing local ability to access Horizon 2020, Europe’s €70bn flagship research and development programme for 2014–2020.”

New apps from local students help cross the generation gap

Louth students cross the generation gap with app innovations
Lisa McGowan from Scoil Uí Mhuirí, Dunleer, Co Louth; older participant Pat Kilboy from Blackrock, Co Louth; Barrett Akpotor from St Oliver’s Community College, Drogheda; and Nadine Weldon from Scoil Uí Mhuirí, at Dundalk Institute of Technology

Transition-year students from four schools in Louth have been involved in a unique project with adults in the region to come up with prototypes for four mobile apps that aim to cross the inter-generational divide.

The SANDPiT project involved 40 transition-year students and nine adults aged in their in their 60s and 70s who worked together to co-design the apps.

The group showcased their innovations at Dundalk Institute of Technology on Friday.

The apps include an emotional well-being app, an inter-generational quiz app, a community security app, and a ‘Don’t Panic’ app to get help for the elderly quickly following a fall.

The project was run by Louth VEC and the Casala applied research centre at DKIT. Casala’s Dr Julie Doyle, who specialises in human computer interaction research, worked with the group during a series of workshops that were held over nine months.

The Louth students hail from Scoil Uí Mhuirí in Dunleer; St Oliver’s Community College in Drogheda; O’Fiach College in Dundalk; and Bush Post Primary School in Cooley. They worked with the adults to develop the apps to prototype stage.

“We mixed up the generations on the teams and it was wonderful to see how they interacted,” said Doyle.

She said that when older people are using apps, aspects such as contrast, colour and text size need particular attention.

“Our plan is to have the more relevant projects developed into fully fledged apps and a number of DKIT students will be working on this during the summer,” added Doyle.

The project has also been shortlisted for an EU GoAct award for best practice in inter-generational learning.

Source: Silicon Republic