IT4Anxiety’s 5th hackathon was launched on the evening of the 22nd of June in Elgin, Scotland. If you’ve missed our Debrief of Day 1, you can read it here.
The second day of the hackathon started at 9:30 AM with a Welcome speech from Martin Malcom, Head of Public Health Intelligence & Information Services at NHS Western Isles, followed by an introduction to the second day by Susan Perry, Head of Public Health at NHS Wakefield and Jenny Coxon.
The day continued with the pitches from six different start-ups who were invited to work on their innovative solutions for people living with anxiety: Woodlands in my room, Kindspace, Well@Caring, Kawan, Cerina and The VR Hive: A virtual space designed to help reduce anxiety. More information about the different start-ups in our D1 debriefing: here. These pitches were fed by all the work done in those two days with all the present different team members (mental healthcare providers, psychologists, mental healthcare users, other technology providers, mental health specialists, etc.).
During the lunch break, the four invited judges were invited to deliberate to decide upon the winner of this hackathon. The four invited judges were the following:
- Martin Malcolm, Head of Public Health Intelligence and Information services
Martin is an experienced Public Health Intelligence Specialist who leads a data analytics team and several research and innovation projects on behalf of NHS Western Isles.
He is particularly interested in loneliness and social isolation and their physical and mental health impacts, particularly among remote and rural communities.
- Karim Mahmoud, Commercial Innovation Lead, Digital Health and Care Innovation
Karim has a comprehensive career in research and innovation management. His expertise lies in maximizing the impact of projects and in developing appropriate exploitation strategies.
- Dr Alison Robertson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Alison has worked in the NHS as a clinical psychologist with a wide range of client groups for over 30 years. She has been involved with the development of the Scottish Government’s Matrix of Evidence Based Psychological Therapies, as well as in implementing new modes of delivery, and overseeing NHS staff supporting the public in their use of new technology.
- Aliah Chowdhury, BEng. MSc. LLM.
With over a decade’s experience in commercial software engineering, Aliah’s professional experience spans the entire innovation life cycle of digital technologies; from user-centered design to business modelling around a digital solution. Professional interests aside, Aliah also has lived experience of being diagnosed and treated for anxiety disorder, so has taken a personal interest in the IT4Anxiety project.
After this hard deliberation, the Jury members provided some feedback to the different start-ups and announced the winners of this IT4Anxiety Hackathon! The happy winners of this last hackathon are:
- Kindspace with Caroline Laurenson and Phoebe Pearson who won the first price of 2000 pounds
- The VR Hive with Anne Widdop and Kerri Thornton who won the second prize of 1500 pounds
- And Cerina with Ozlem Eylem van Bergeijk and collegues who won the third prize of 500 pounds
Congratulations to all of you for their great work ! We invite you to follow their journey now on our social media (@IT4Anxiety).
Finally, all participants had the opportunity to network in a more relaxed ambiance and a get-together drink !
For those already nostalgic, and for those who missed the event, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter ! Our next event is coming up very soon: the IT4Anxiety mid-term conference on the 11th of October 2022 in Lille, France. This will be the occasion for all hackathons’ participants to meet again and to meet new people in the mental health field.
Stay tuned on IT4Anxiety social media (@IT4Anxiety) !
