Three students in industrial engineering at the University of Iceland and a student in computer science at Reykjavík University received this year's President of Iceland's innovation prize, presented at a festive ceremony in Bessastaðir earlier this week for their project "Better communications with patients that are waiting to be admitted and treated at Vogur hospital" („Betri samskipti við sjúklinga sem bíða innlagnar og meðferðar á sjúkrahúsinu Vogi“). The project's aim is to improve patient services that are going to Vogur hospital.
The students behind it are Ari Kvaran, Sunneva Sól Ívarsdóttir and Þórdís Rögn Jónsdóttir, students in industrial engineering at the University of Iceland, and Ísól Sigurðardóttur, student in computer science at Reykjavík University. The supervisors were Guðmundur Valur Oddsson, Rögnvaldur Jóhann Sæmundsson og Tómas Philip Rúnarsson, professors at the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, and Valgerður Árný Rúnarsdóttir, chief at Vogur hospital.
The aim of the project is to design and develop a software prototype to assist clients while they wait for treatment at Vogur hospital, but demand for their services has been increasing rapidly and waiting lists have grown longer. Emphasis was placed on improving communication with clients with digital automatic individualised messages, as well as giving them access to the resources available, encouragement, and assistance during the time leading up to their treatment. The need for digital solutions offering better and more diverse services to this group has never been as dire as in the times of the pandemic.
"By using the software we hope to point each client toward suitable resources and thus admitting more people that need rehab. The software would in therefore not only benefit people with alcohol and drug addiction and their families and friends, but the whole community," says in the announcement for the awards.
The prototype was developed in close collaboration with SÁÁ staff and individuals that had experience of waiting to be admitted. The project results have been presented to project manager in alcohol and drug abuse prevention measures at the Directorate of Health, who showed great interest in the project and sees ample opportunities in using the software.
This solution can be found on the website electra.is and it is worth mentioning that the project was also one of the finalists in the Gulleggið, a competition for entrepreneurs, in 2020.
A total of six projects were nominated for the President of Iceland's innovation prize and they all received special recognition at the ceremony. University of Iceland students were involved in three of those.
This was the 26th time the prize is presented to students who have done an outstanding job in the projects funded by the Student Innovation Fund in 2020.