At the recent "The Digitisation of Technology Enabled Care" event, hosted by TSA in partnership with East Midlands ADASS and sponsored by 2iC-Care and Appello, our own CEO Richard Keyse delivered a talk "Unlocking Change: Achieving Impactful Care Reform with Interoperability." This talk highlighted the critical role of interoperability in shaping the future of technology enabled care, a principle at the core of Andi, our technology enabled care solution for the future.

Why is Interoperability Vital to Technology Enabled?

Richard emphasised that interoperability is not just a technical requirement but a fundamental principle determining the quality and effectiveness of technology enabled care solutions. This aligns perfectly with our approach at 2iC-Care, where Andi has been designed from the ground up with interoperability in mind.

Key takeaway “Interoperability is arguably the most important decision when choosing your Tech-Enabled-Care solution.”

The A2D Transition is a Pivotal Opportunity

As the care sector undergoes the analogue to digital (A2D) transition, the importance of interoperability cannot be overstated. Richard highlighted how this shift presents a unique opportunity for councils and commissioners to break free from proprietary to interoperable solutions. By opting for open, interoperable systems like Andi, care providers can future-proof their technology investments and avoid being locked into a single vendor's ecosystem.

The distinction between "proprietary" and "open" solutions was a key point. While proprietary systems often hinder innovation and flexibility, open systems like Andi facilitate future-proofing and allow for easy integration of new technologies.

Key takeaway “You cannot convert a solution that is not interoperable to one that is.”

Interoperability in Practice: Real-World Impact

To illustrate the tangible benefits of interoperability, Richard presented a case study featuring an HMT Care Home, showcasing how Andi provided invaluable insights through data analytics. This data was then presented as actionable data insights to improve care delivery. Out of 26 residents monitored, 5 were flagged for clinical assessment based on changes in their behaviour patterns detected by Andi.

Expertise and Critical Questions

As experts in interoperability, we at 2iC-Care encourage care providers and commissioners to ask probing questions about the TEC solutions they are considering to ensure that solutions are interoperable.

Asking, and acting on the questions, can literally save care providers millions of pounds for those moving to a proactive and preventative model.

2iC-Cares Andi hub has embedded the award winning the 2iC World IOT platform which was specifically designed to provide bidirectional connectivity between peripherals and systems that were never designed to work together.

This has taken 10 years of investment and development and proven across the world by government defence forces and many blue-chip companies in life and limb situations.

Because it is used in the defence sector sending critical messages where there is poor or intermittent connectivity, it is vital the messages “get through”. For this reason the Andi platform arguably offers the most robust connectivity offering in the TEC market.

Moving Social Care Forward

Richard's talk emphasised that interoperability is key to advancing the entire care sector. By embracing interoperable solutions like Andi, care providers can:

• Provides wider choice in types of peripherals
• Enable personalised solutions to the needs of the service user
• Reduce risks associated with vendor lock-in
• Reduce risks associated with product supply
• Ability to save by buying cheaper & better peripherals
• Seamlessly linking the existing and familiar telecare solutions in a simple way whilst being able to utilise new innovations

The presentation also touched on the rapid growth of IoT devices, with 16-20 billion devices currently in use worldwide.  Andi's architecture is built to handle this proliferation, leveraging advanced IoT capabilities and connectivity to a huge range of smart phone apps to harness the full potential of these technologies.

2iC-Care: Leading the Way in Interoperability

At 2iC-Care, we're proud that our Andi platform embodies the principles of interoperability discussed in Richard's presentation. Andi's architecture has been proven in various sectors, including several governments and blue-chip companies, demonstrating its robustness and rapid versatility.

As the care sector continues its digital transformation, the principles of interoperability will play an increasingly vital role. Our presentation at the TSA event served as a powerful reminder of why we developed Andi with interoperability at its core. By choosing solutions like Andi, care organisations can unlock the full potential of care technology and achieve meaningful, impactful reform in care delivery in terms of better outcomes, financial benefits and providing carers and clinicians with relevant and important information.

The future of tech-enabled-care relies on interconnected, data-driven, and adaptability.

With Andi, we're not just preparing for this future – we're actively shaping it.

We encourage local authority care services to demand true interoperability in their TEC solutions, moving beyond the "this is what we've always done" mindset to provide the best possible care in the digital age.