A team of students have won the CEPLER challenge, sponsored by IBM as part of the annual Birmingham Project, for their app that provides an interactive step-by-step guide through the court process. The app, JustEase, was the team’s response to the challenge ‘how can technology assist with access to justice?’
The annual Birmingham Project provides first-year students with the opportunity to work in cross-discipline teams to tackle real world challenges. The winning group were working on the CEPLER theme of ‘innovation for a smarter planet’.
The winning students designed an app in answer to the question ‘how can technology help with access to justice?’. The resulting app JustEase provides an interactive step-by-step guide through the court process, using user-friendly language and intuitive technology. IBM were so impressed with the students’ output that they have invited the team to their state-of-the-art laboratory in Winchester, and there may even be scope to take the project forward.
The team have produced a short film showing the app in action:
What is the Birmingham Project?
The Birmingham Project is a research project exclusive to undergraduate first year students which takes place during the last two weeks of the summer term, after the exam period. The project involves working in a mixed discipline group of seven to eight students to tackle a real world challenge set by a University of Birmingham academic. Students are expected to work collaboratively as a team to answer this challenge by conducting research and presenting their findings through an educational online resource.
