How Google wants ‘to tackle inequalities’ in South Yorkshire with health tech research and training

At an event at Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AMRC), it was revealed that the South Yorkshire Mayor, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were working with Google to invest in research, apprenticeships and digital skills training across the county.

As part of this, the £4million South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub will work with the “world-leading” American company on a series of pioneering research opportunities.

The first of these – the PUMAS study – aims to understand whether Pixel smartphone sensors that detect light, radar, and electrical signals from the heart could aid the detection of common conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol and chronic kidney disease.

It was also revealed that The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University will also have access to 500 Google Career Certificate scholarships for their students and people working or aspiring to work in digital health across the region.

These scholarships will cover the cost of Google Career Certificates, training which provides learners with job-ready, entry-level qualifications in subjects such as cybersecurity, data analytics, project management, user experience and IT support.

Google will also provide 500 Fitbits for a separate study on post-surgical rehabilitation.

Debbie Weinstein, vice president of Google and managing director of Google UK and Ireland, said Google was “always seeking out places like” South Yorkshire where innovation “is not just talked about but it’s really happening”.

Oliver Coppard, the South Yorkshire Mayor, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that they were launching a partnership with Google to “pioneer how technology can help us solve our huge health challenges” across the county.

He said: “South Yorkshire is the leader when it comes to health technology and advanced well-being – that’s why we’re stood in the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre which is a world-leading centre and now we’re working with Google to take on some of those huge challenges that we face as a region, and indeed as a country.”

He added the health inequalities in South Yorkshire were “stark”. Mr Coppard said a baby born today in Rotherham was likely to die five years younger than a baby born in a posh part of London.

“It simply isn’t OK”, he said.

He told the LDRS that in order for South Yorkshire to become the healthiest region in the country, they need to work in partnership with world leaders like Google.

He said: “It’s fundamental to making this region healthier, happier and wealthier, and this is why working with world-leading partners like Google is such a big step.”

After the event, Susan Thomas, director at Google Health, told the LDRS that South Yorkshire was “such an interesting region”.

She said: “It sort of mirrors the UK in many ways. It’s got the stark inequalities, it’s got a history of industry, the regeneration of the manufacturing base here.

“If you want to have an impact you need to go somewhere where you can have that impact and test that out.

“South Yorkshire’s got all of that together. We were chatting with the Mayor (Mr Coppard) that it sort of goes under the radar. You’ve got Leeds which is a bit more glamorous, maybe Manchester over the Pennines – South Yorkshire is just here and we can have by bringing the best of Google an outsized impact because it’s just there, ready to do amazing stuff with.”