Predictive tool for vulnerability situations, to improve the planning of social services.

admin on 6 October 2021

Image taken from the Unsplash website.

A predictive tool of needs and situations of vulnerability and inequality of the population that, based on Big Data and Artificial Intelligence algorithms, makes it possible to describe the socio-demographic and economic characteristics of families in the territory with the aim of helping municipal social services to better understand current real needs, predict future needs, size the portfolio of services and plan resources.

The tool has been applied for the first time in the neighbourhoods of the municipalities of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Premià de Mar and Mollet del Vallés, and has enabled a better understanding of the impact of Covid on the most vulnerable population, with the participation of the social services, basic information management and open government teams of these three municipalities.

Momentum Analytics, together with the Asociación Bienestar y Desarrollo ABD, after years of developing the solution and talking to all the actors in the sector – central and regional governments, town councils, provincial councils, county councils, the third sector, foundations, associations, NGOs, energy companies, water companies – have crystallized the project with the implementation in these first three municipalities.

According to the expert Dr. Josep Maria Picas, “we are at the beginning of a project that will be fascinating, based on the information from the data of the social services of the town councils which, together with other community services such as health, will allow our assistance to the population to be unbeatable. We have a great opportunity”.

Characteristics of innovation

Bank of innovations, Information and planning, Integrated care, Lab, New technological tool, Pilot project, Poverty and exclusion, Prediction and prevention

Location

Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Premià de Mar and Mollet del Vallès.

Partners/Funders

City Councils of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Premià de Mar and Mollet del Vallès.

Genesis

In the private sector, the use of Big Data is commonplace, an essential tool for the optimisation of the activity that allows a more accurate knowledge of its target, but this digital advance is still quite unknown in the social services sector, which has difficulties in knowing who to approach and with what portfolio of services.

The predictive vulnerability tool was created with the aim of “moving from being a reactive administration to a proactive administration”, according to the voices of some of the three councils that have promoted it. According to Flavia Reina, president of the Department of Citizens’ Rights and Social Policies of Sant Feliu de Llobregat Town Council, “it allows us to see where we are not reaching and to identify new needs; we have started to put it into practice, and with the results obtained we are already looking ahead to next year’s budgets”.

Level of implementation

The organisations behind the project foresee that in the coming years other municipalities will incorporate this predictive tool to assist in the planning of their municipal social services.

Further information