New Challenge Launched - Building the App (or deploying an existing app)
Please see the Part 2 of this challenge whereby we are seeking either a new development or rolling out an existing app that meets the needs.
We want to deliver a comprehensive solution, made available to first responders (e.g. police, emergency medical services, firefighters, military, etc.) that supports employees physically and mentally throughout their careers (and perhaps into retirement). This solution should address the following statements:
Ideally, all three functions should be incorporated into one solution that will serve the emergency response community.
Recruit Engagement
Recruiters in every emergency response industry must find the best recruits possible for a challenging career. Potential applicants come from all walks of life with commitments that may not allow them to connect with recruiters during regularly scheduled events. While a website may give them the basic information, they may require specialized answers or mentoring, and often want to hear directly from a first responder for questions like:
Employee Physical Wellness
Employees within the first responder industry want better ways to track their fitness and wellness goals. Emergency response is a demanding career and often the physical well-being of employees is directly connected to their success in the job. As such, services often have specific staff dedicated to ensuring both physical and mental wellness. With competing requirements for resources, this staff cannot reach everyone personally but using technology may be more successful in providing services to employees from wellness staff.
Employee Mental Wellness
We know mental wellness is directly connected to physical wellness. That said, working within the emergency response industry can expose first responders to many challenging situations that take its toll on their mental well-being. When facing these challenges, employees want ways to be able to reach out to the right professionals in an expedited manner regardless of time of day or day of the week. They need resources and information in a discreet and safe/anonymous manner, 24-7.
This is the preamble to the real challenge which will have a monetary prize. However, the BEST submissions from this challenge will receive Edmonton Police Service (EPS) branded merchandise (e.g. coffee mugs, hoodies, hats, etc.). This is the cool stuff that you can't get unless you are an EPS member (or family).
After we better understand what we need to ask for, we will launch the formal challenge where we will ask for proposed solutions and that challenge will have a substantial prize money component, along with an opportunity to get your first paying customer and opportunities to commercialize the solution(s) globally.
As this concept was came to fruition, there were several design criteria developed but we did not want to limit ourselves. As the challenge outlines, we want to THINK BIG. We need to encourage new perspectives and new ideas to be generated to address these problems.
When looking at solving the challenges outlined in the overview, we need guidance of the following questions: