From Insight to Innovation: Showcasing Kintra in Our Latest Workshops
Following the launch of Kintra, a new AI tool designed to simplify the SEND process, (special educational needs and disabilities) we hosted a series of workshops to showcase our service – how Kintra came about in the first place, our previous work with other local authorities which informed the build of the tool, and how an AI approach can greatly benefit those engaging with the SEND pathway.
As AI continues to grow and evolve in the public sector space, CC2i, along with our technical partner Bullet, have harnessed this technology in other areas to consolidate and simplify information that is complicated and sometimes hard to understand – adult social care being one such area. Working with Norfolk, Bradford and West Northamptonshire councils, three digital assistants (named Cora, Annie and Rose) were designed to provide guidance on everything ranging from dementia care, to resources available to those in a carer role. Following the same format as Kintra, these assistants are available 24/7, 365 days a year – users can access them in their own time and, crucially, in their own language, with multilingual capabilities available as part of the service. Also key to these assistants is the audio capability – voice notes can be generated by the AI model if the user wishes to have a conversation with the assistant, something which we demonstrated in the session, along with the messaging capabilities.
This approach is clearly seeing strong engagement – following the launch of Annie and Rose in October, the tools have already seen over 1,400 messages and questions, over 400 continuous conversations and an average of just 21% of calls happening outside of call centre hours, an indication of reducing that demand at the social care ‘front door’.
Following the success of our adult social care assistants, we wanted to replicate this in a SEND context – with the same 24/7 availability providing information and guidance on everything from how to find local SEND support services, the staff available to help SEND children and families, and what happens during an autism assessment – all of this accessed at any time in any language, via messages or voice notes. As a digital assistant, Kintra can easily slot into a council’s existing mandatory SEND services as another resource for parents and carers to lean on, aiming to ease the mental load and anxiety that is often associated with the process of seeking further support for children with additional needs and helping them feel more informed, reassured and confident at every stage.
Underpinning this is Kintra being delivered via WhatsApp – following a deep dive into an Ofcom digital habits report, it was established that it continues to be one of the most popular UK communication channels, used by 87% of UK adults – pairing this with the growing app fatigue that many users tend to experience (downloading and learning the interface of another app) we established why this platform is key to the success of Kintra and for maximum outreach.
Leaving attendees with food for thought, questions ranged from how our approach differs from other AI models, how the tool can incorporate face to face services (if a user needs to speak to someone in person) and the annual costs for commissioning a service like this. To find out more about how Kintra and our adult social care assistants are innovating the AI space, please use the buttons below to get in touch.
