Smart D8 pilot projects focus on community health and wellbeing
Smart D8 has announced three new pilot projects as it enters its fifth year of successfully engaging the local community.
The pilot projects will centre on accelerating cancer detection with the use of AI; driving positive conversations around men’s health through community football; and supporting remote heart health monitoring for patients living with heart failure conditions.
The announced initiatives come as Smart D8 continues its commitment to enhance the health and wellbeing of local communities in the Dublin 8 area following five years of success.
Since October 2020, the Smart D8 partnership has gathered expertise across a range of areas and has established strong community connections among residents, businesses and local organisations. Through the combined effort of pilot calls, local workshop activities and engagement with existing community groups, Smart D8 has reached over 18,500 people living and working in the 45,000-strong population of Dublin 8.
The pilot programme of Smart D8 operates by selecting a number of health and wellbeing-focused initiatives each year following a competitive application process. Selected projects are supported with community engagement and funding as they are demonstrated in Dublin 8 for a six-month period. After this period, they are evaluated to verify the potential to scale their innovations for long-term population health and wellbeing impacts in the area and beyond.
Jack Lehane, Smart D8 ecosystem manager, said: “As Smart D8 enters its fifth consecutive year, I am delighted to announce the three pilot projects that will be demonstrated with the Dublin 8 community. Each year, the quality of applications for Smart D8 is increasing, which is a reflection of the interest and impact that the programme and these initiatives are creating. The three selected projects focus on key areas centred on population health and wellbeing, cemented by innovation and scalability. We look forward to supporting these projects over the coming six months and seeing the positive impact that they generate with the Dublin 8 community and wider areas to scale.”
Ana Coughlan, Smart D8 community coordinator, added: “Community engagement is at the heart of Smart D8, and we’re excited to see how people living and working in Dublin 8 can participate in the three new pilot projects for 2025. Over the past five years, Smart D8 has reached more than 40% of the local population – a milestone we’re proud of as we continue to support health and wellbeing innovation in the area. These new pilots are an opportunity to respond to local health challenges in meaningful ways, where improved health and wellbeing can become more embedded into everyday life in Dublin 8 and our wider communities.”
Smart D8 has supported a total of 16 projects to date including Kids Speech Labs, which filled gender and cultural data gaps for early-intervention speech and language screening; Menopause and the City, a menopause education initiative to empower women and their family and friends to manage menopause symptoms; and MoveAhead, which pioneered motion-analytics technology to improve children’s movement skills.
Smart D8 is led by The Digital Hub, Dublin City Council, St James’s Hospital and Smart Dublin. They are joined by Tyndall National Institute, St Patrick’s Mental Health Services, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, National College of Art & Design, Guinness Enterprise Centre, Health Innovation Hub Ireland and the HSE.
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