Prince William has announced a new initiative that will explore whether AI and data analytics can help identify people at risk of homelessness before they reach crisis point.
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Prince William launched the Homelessness Data Lab at London Tech Week. The project will use AI and data analytics to identify people at risk of homelessness before they reach crisis point, with Salesforce and charity LandAid among the key partners.
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More than 25 companies including Bloomberg, Accenture, and NatWest have signed up to develop projects spotting early warning signs of homelessness and improving information sharing between services.
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Exactly what data will be used has not been disclosed, and questions around privacy protections for vulnerable people and the ethics of predictive technology in homelessness services remain unanswered.
The UK-based project, called the Homelessness Data Lab, is part of the Prince of Wales’ Homewards programme and is being developed with Salesforce and charity LandAid.
More than 25 companies, including Bloomberg, Accenture, Natwest and VodafoneThree, have signed up to take part.
The idea, unveiled during London Tech Week on Wednesday, is relatively simple: many people show warning signs before becoming homeless.
Financial difficulties, relationship breakdowns, rent arrears, health issues, or interactions with support services can all indicate that someone may be at risk.
The new data lab will examine whether technology can help spot those patterns earlier and connect people with support before they lose their housing.
Predictive data to prevent homelessness
Over 430,000 people across the UK are currently facing homelessness, but there are challenges attached to supporting this population, without knowing what the root causes are, charities argue – and Homewards believes that open data and AI may be the answer.
Speaking on the AI Arena stage at the event Prince William said that “prevention is better than the cure” in the fight against homelessness, which can employ technology to “keep people in their homes”.
Homewards said that participating companies will develop projects focused on identifying risks, improving information sharing between services and reducing response times.
Exactly what data the Homelessness Data Lab will use has not been disclosed. As the project develops, questions are likely to emerge around data sharing, privacy protections for vulnerable people and the role of predictive technologies in homelessness services.
Security and privacy concerns may be exemplified by the fact that Salesforce records have been involved in multiple data breaches, and the company is regular target of threat actors such as Shiny Hunters.
Salesforce promises to use data “appropriately and responsibly”
Salesforce, which Homewards describes as an existing programme partner, provided technical support for the creation of the Data Lab and will contribute expertise as projects are developed.
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Speaking at London Tech Week, Salesforce UK head Zahra Bahrololoumi, stressed that the information held on individuals would be used “appropriately and responsibly” and would primarily be used to understand the causes.
"The lab will now run a series of very short chart-focused experiments, tests, and exploration around this data, because if we can make homelessness predictable, we can prevent it, so it’s really to understand the causes,” Bahrololoumi added.
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