LPWAN Solutions for social housing and independent living

Local Authorities have a statutory duty to provide housing, advice and assistance to applicants in need. A recent survey by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that one in six families in the UK live in social housing, approximately half of which are council owned.

According to a recent survey by YouGov, nearly two thirds of people worry about the level of GP care that will be available in their golden years, and there is the belief that using IoT devices could help them live independently for longer, reducing the burden on health and care services.

The UK is falling behind the rest of Europe in innovating in LPWANs. To help address this challenge, we are looking for startups with disruptive products and services that are designed to help councils save money on delivering services, yet still ensure that citizens are able to continue living in independent homes with dignity and well-being.

Digital Catapult is launching an innovation programme in October, designed to help startups and SMEs ensure that when they take their new products and services to market they are 100% primed and targeting the right needs. If selected to join, successful applicants will benefit from free access to the ‘Things Connected network’ for experimentation and testing. During that time, Digital Catapult will support you by ensuring that you are fully able to connect your devices and applications to the network.

All about the programme

The six-week programme starts on 23rd October and ends on 27th November and will culminate in a demo day and showcase where you will be able to display your work to a selected audience of Local Authorities, service providers and investors.

How Digital Catapult will support the successful applicants

Over the six-week period you will:

• Hear from Local Authorities and Service Providers about:
  • the business challenges they face in providing social housing and adult social care
  • how they procure solutions – and routes to market for startups
• Learn and practice user-led design techniques so you can be sure your offerings meet the needs of clients
• Refine your business model and value propositions so you can:
  • identify where your organisation fits in the value chain
  • establish if you are working with the right partners
  • derive a distinct, targeted value proposition that you can offer your clients
• Develop and test your products using our Things Connected network
• Learn about necessary steps required to move your product from prototype to production-ready, and the kind of partners you will need to make that happen
• Discover how to contract and collaborate with suppliers and partner organisations, and how to protect your Intellectual Property
• Find out how to raise money from investors, grants and crowd-funding
• Learn how to market to Local Authorities and Service Providers
• Hear from other startups who were where you are now!

Please note that applications must reach Digital Catapult before 13 October.