CivTech 11.4 - How can innovation and technology improve things for people with long term health conditions starting with Musculoskeletal conditions, so they can engage with life and work as fully as possible?

Long term health conditions can have a significant impact on the lives of people that live with them. Musculoskeletal conditions are one of the most common conditions with impacts for sufferers ranging from management of pain and limits on mobility to problems sleeping and social isolation. We know these conditions can both impact long term health outcomes and make people with them more likely to experience poverty as a result of difficulties engaging with work. Being economically inactive due to these conditions can further impact health outcomes even life expectancy. So how can innovation and technology improve the situation for people with these conditions? About CivTech CivTech’s mission is to drive daring and innovation in the public sector by collaboratively solving Challenges that make people’s lives better – and in doing so create generations of sustainable, high growth businesses. CivTech brings together public sector expertise and private sector innovation to solve real problems, develop new products, and deliver better, faster and easier services for everyone. Central to the approach is co-production with the citizen. Part of the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate, CivTech’s approach is helping transform public sector engagement with tech and innovation, delivering significant benefits to public services, producing genuine uplifts for the Scottish economy - and along the way, making lives better. Across the country there are problems public sector organisations would like to solve and in the current environment the need for smart, efficient and effective products has never been greater. The Scottish Government is aware innovation is a good way to create them and is committed to ensuring a large part of its tech spend goes to innovative businesses - whatever stage they’re at, or size they are.. This is where CivTech comes in. The CivTech Innovation Flow is designed to create products as quickly and effectively as possible, and uses a true Accelerator model at the heart of its Innovation Flow model. For you – whether you’re an individual, team or company – it’s an opportunity to take on a Challenge, solve it, and win contracts with a blue-chip public sector organisation. You’ll build a product, and a business to take it as far as possible. Because here’s the kicker: the Challenges we issue aren’t ‘single organisation’ problems – most of the problems we are solving exist worldwide. In short: Open Challenges are set. Any organisation, team or individual can respond. Applications are assessed, and shortlisted proposals go into an Exploration Stage where they’re developed further together with the Challenge Sponsor and the CivTech [for which participating applicants are paid]. The best go through to the Accelerator – a period of intensive work to create the solution, and through CivTech’s unique business growth workshop system, a business capable of taking the product to the world. Please visit our website for information on CivTech and how to get involved: https://www.civtech.scot/how-to-apply-civtech-11 https://www.civtech.scot/civtech-11-challenge-4-help-prevent-detect-and-support-musco-skeletal-conditions