Former Edinburgh College student develops healthcare streamlining app with help of Business Development Team
A former student at Edinburgh College is thanking the Business Development Team for helping him to secure a StandardInnovation Voucher from Interface, which allowed him to develop a digital tool which could greatly streamline workloads for frontline carers and their managers.
Peter Sido, who studied Data Science at the College, is the creator of CareTrace, an app designed to help social workers more easily manage their work, keep track of daily tasks and manage records, and to allow supervisors access to a central dashboard to monitor documents and team workload.
Peter enjoyed great support for his project from his course lecturers, and also from the College’s Business Development Team, who encouraged him to apply for a StandardInnovation Voucher. The Standard Innovation Voucher scheme via Interface, is an opportunity open to all small and medium-sized enterprises, social enterprises, sole traders, and third-sector organisations in Scotland. The voucher, which can be worth up to £7,500, is paid directly to the College to cover the costs of developing a new product/service, or workforce solution.
Peter’s application was successful, with the funds used to develop the initial front-end solution, in collaboration with the College’s School of Computing. He says it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the College:
“The academic team, led by Jorge, did a fantastic job. They understood my idea and developed a functional front-end for the mobile app and dashboards. I haven’t been able to stop since then, and have went on to learn several new coding technologies. I had been out of the digital realm for a decade before returning to Edinburgh College, and I was surprised to see how much it had moved on since then.
“The app is based on my own experience of working as a carer in Scotland, and I hope it’ll be able to make a difference for those also working in the front-line of care and social work. It’s specifically designed to meet the unique needs of Scottish care settings, ensuring compliance and efficiency.
“I received so much encouragement and support from my lecturers and the members of the Development Team. They believed in what I was trying to do, and made sure I was on the right path to secure funding and make it a reality. I can’t speak highly enough about the staff at Edinburgh College, and I would recommend studying here to anyone.”
Peter plans to present his app to Midlothian Council soon, with the long‑term goal of seeing it rolled out more widely across Scotland.