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Business and societal benefits
5.15 Projects have progressed further since the Mid-Term Evaluation, with some validated technologies / applications now moving towards minimum viable products (MVPs). For example, both DRAGON-Spotter and DRAGON-Shield are being piloted and evaluated with the work expected to conclude by July 2023. The Include Journey app which was created by the Software Development Team has also developed further, with a summary of progress and benefits since the Mid-Term Evaluation presented in the text box below.
Include Journey
• The project lead secured two funding awards to progress the project further: £120k funding from the Welsh Government Smart Partnership and £400k from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). • The first funding award from the Welsh Government was used to trial the app within Include, and the organisation is now embedding the app into their day-to-day operations. The app is helping staff to better support individuals, as well as generating meaningful data that can be used to identify trends and insights into client behaviour and the effectiveness of interventions. • More recently, funding from the MOJ was secured to deliver a 9-month pilot of the app with prison leavers from Parc Prison, Bridgend and Swansea Prison. Three months into the pilot, the uptake of the app has been strong and the app is reported to have been well-received by users. Prior to commencing the pilot, the Lab supported the implementation of some marginal modifications to the app (e.g. to address additional security requirements). • The (potential) benefits of the project are multifaceted, from benefitting service users and staff, to providing additional insights and instruments for service providers and policy makers. There is also potential for the app to be applied across different service areas and sectors.
5.16 A further benefit of the Lab is knowledge transfer between industry and academics , through collaborative research projects or wider engagement/dissemination activities. Consultations for the Final Evaluation in particular highlighted the role of the Lab in sharing knowledge with the law sector. Resources such as the tech explainer videos, along with events such as the knowledge sessions for trainee solicitors, have all been important new mechanisms for knowledge exchange between academia and industry. As noted above, industry engagement has also supported delivery against Specific Objective 1.1 to increase the success of Welsh research institutions in attracting competitive and private research funding, with over £130k of private research income secured to date. This said, the extent to which this engagement has benefitted individuals/firms in the sector is not known, because evidence has not been captured on the benefits of these activities on beneficiaries. Going forward, the Virtual LegalTech platform, LegalTech Observatory, and Wales LegalTech start-
Legal Innovation Lab Wales
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