On Tuesday 5^th October, the people of Clare Island had cause for celebration as their project ‘Clare Island Digital Health Living Lab’ won the Remote Connectivity category in the OPS Ireland Future Tech Challenge final.

This project arose from a request from the people of the Clare Island to the WDC to help them make island living more sustainable. The project is a collaboration between the WDC, HSE Digital Transformation, Mayo County Council, NUIG, Cisco and others. It aims to provide an integrated digital health solution to the people of Clare Island and to proactively monitor and intervene for the health of the islanders.

The project now returns to Clare island as plans are afoot for a workshop on the island to engage with the residents of Clare island so they can prioritise their healthcare needs. In other developments, the project has engaged with mobile service providers to improve island connectivity.