Saffron Interactive have been awarded Bronze in the ‘Most innovative new learning technologies product’ category at this year’s Learning Technologies Awards, for their ground-breaking employment support platform, Create Your Own Future.
Create Your Own Future was initially developed to support those whose jobs were most at risk of digital disruption, as part of a Nesta and Department for Education funded project. As a result of Covid-19, the project was broadened and accelerated to meet the needs of a wider cohort.
Combining design-based thinking principles alongside pioneering technological innovation, including an AI-enabled video coach with inbuilt voice and text recognition and Natural Language Processing; it has provided invaluable support to those most affected by the current economic climate. Many users are now on the journey to long-term sustainable employment, armed with additional skills and resilience capabilities.
The platform itself has recently received further funding from grant-funding body Ufi VocTech Trust, as part of the VocTech Challenge. The grant will be used to further develop the Create Your Own Future product in order to expand its reach and impact. The project will continue to focus on using technology to improve access to high-quality employment support for those who need it most.
Saffron’s Noorie Sazen said, “We are thrilled to have been recognised for our innovation and ground-breaking approach to employment support. Create Your Own Future has offered a vital lifeline for hundreds of individuals most at risk of displacement from digital disruption and we are proud to pioneer the use of digital technology within the public sector. We are also excited for the future development opportunities that will enable a greater reach and impact for the project”.
Due to the impact of the pilot project, Saffron are also now working to expand the technologies for use within the corporate coaching sphere. Offering organisations an opportunity to procure scalable, effective and high-quality coaching for the entire workforce.
The judges and awarding body had this to say on the standout features of the product:
“We all know that coaching works – the problem is how to scale it? Often the reserve of those higher up the pay scales; it was refreshing to see this coaching product aimed at those further down who will perhaps benefit from it more.
The judges liked that the platform used existing technologies for sentiment and audio analysis, whilst adding the ‘human’ touch of automated video avatars of coach/guides to help find a new career. It was very clever how the system can identify people who need more help and connect them to a real human coach for further support. Well designed and executed.”
