Employer Case Summary
Farai Pfende, John Osborne, and Nick Gale, Bendigo Systems Ltd.
Below is a brief synopsis of the interview with the Directors of Bendigo Systems Ltd. However, it is essential to watch the video to understand the employer’s information in order to satisfactorily answer the question that is to be the basis of your assignment if you chose this Employer Case.
Bendigo is an innovative start-up company that brings smart technology to the assistance of a growing aging population and their carers. Bendigo considers that the potential benefits of Assistive Technology for people with dementia and their carers within the home are only at the beginning of the possibilities. Systems are not yet integrated and don’t speak to each other, so there is potential for technological development as well as application to this area of need.
Opportunities include simple reminders for those who have memory loss and alerts for carers to indicate movement and provide reassurance without constant supervision. These and many other applications of home automation can provide regained independence, peace of mind for the carer and effectively enable people to stay in their own homes and out of residential care for longer. The costs of residential care make this is a highly economic alternative as well as supporting the wish of most elderly people to stay in their own homes.
The leadership of Bendigo Systems is a flat system with four directors, each having their own complimentary expertise in health-care, technology, and a fourth director who is responsible for administration and policies and procedures including legal issues such as protection of intellectual property (IP).
Bendigo is a company at the beginning of its development, looking forward innovatively to bring technology to address a need that is predicted to increase significantly in the near future. The age demographic of the UK population shows that the numbers of aged people is set to increase dramatically, and with it the need for health and social care to address well-being and acceptable life-styles for families as well as those with direct need. Provision by present methods is likely to become inadequate in the near future in an already over-stretched National Health Service (NHS). Challenges include overcoming resistance and suspicion of technological solutions to human problems.
BELOW IS THE QUESTION THAT IS TO BE ANSWERED AS THE FOCUS OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT IF YOU CHOSE THIS EMPLOYER CASE.
As a consultant how could you help Bendigo to communicate its message about its innovative system more effectively to its key stakeholders?