Radicalising public service using digital technology

Jen Hyatt founded Big White Wall – a digital community in which people with mental health problems can get support anonymously. Hyatt says digital technologies are radicalising public service delivery, and it’s time for healthcare to be more tailored to the individual:

“The transformation of public service is critical, and technology has a critical role by putting people at the centre of driving their own futures. So we really disrupt the model of it being top down governments, companies or clinicians that deliver services to the individual. Now the individual is able to create, deliver and engage collaboratively in their own services.”

This post is part of a major series from the Schwab Foundation looking at lessons from leading social entrepreneurs.

“Mobile technology enables people to be able to access support when they’re experiencing anxiety, depression or stress with nobody else knowing. The model of the clinician taking care of the patient is rapidly disappearing. The patient – or the person – is now the new medication of the 21st century. And equipping that person with their own information and data to take decisions for themselves using technology is now critical.”

Author: Jen Hyatt, Founder and CEO, Big White Wall 

Image: A businessman sits near a cargo area at a port in Tokyo April 19, 2012. REUTERS/Toru Hanai