Audience members at the Amazon Web Services student showcase

;

Breaking Barriers with Amazon Web Services: King's partners with UK Councils to deliver meaningful digital change for residents

12 June 2025

For the third year running, students from King’s Department of Informatics have partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and councils across the UK to design and deliver digital solutions for residents as part of the Impact Accelerator initiative.

Following instruction from King’s lecturers and guest seminars from AWS, the Integrated Masters students teamed up with public sector technology experts for seven months. These mentors then set students a real-world challenge faced by residents of their local authority and asked them to design a software platform, based on AWS Cloud services. These were then presented at a final ‘Demo Day’ showcase earlier this year.

Students worked hand-in-hand with mentors from Hounslow, Merton, North Yorkshire, Peterborough, Kingston, Redbridge, Staffordshire, Thurrock and Wiltshire Councils, as well as non-profit Achieving for Children, to tackle issues as diverse as improving transport services for disabled residents to digitising the life stories of refugee children.

“They're absolutely amazing. They bring something really fresh to the way that we think ." – Matthew Ford-Enfield, Director of Digital Innovation at the London Borough of Merton

“They're absolutely amazing. They bring something really fresh to the way that we think. We're very used to working in our organizational structures, but having people that are going through that learning process has been a really good experience for us.” Said Matthew Ford-Enfield, Director of Digital Innovation at the London Borough of Merton

A recent report has suggested that only 6% of public sector IT professionals have fully integrated digital transformation across their organisation, with nearly 60% pointing to a lack of digital talent as the primary stumbling block to unlocking greater efficiency of services.

Achieving this change can be difficult for time and cash poor councils, who often must focus on existing services rather than innovating on new ones. By supplying councils with first-class students who work to understand the barriers they are facing, the Impact Accelerator empowers local authorities to come up with several potential solutions to a range of public sector problems for low risk.

In turn, by receiving mentorship from public sector technologists and AWS professionals working at the coal face of community service, students receive a unique educational experience that illustrates the impact of computer science outside the bounds of the classroom.

The chance to directly work with a council and to directly impact a service that affects hundreds or even more people, has really shown me the impact that software engineering can have is much broader and much more significant than I anticipated.”– Pratap Guha, 4th year Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence MSci student

Speaking to how the range of projects presented at the Impact Accelerator empowered council technologists to make meaningful change, Matthew Bond, Strategic Lead for Digital Transformation at Achieving for Children said:

“I think what's useful for me is what other local authorities have been demonstrating with their problems and the solutions that are created. It shows that the back end can be repurposed to suit other problems as well, and that element of flexibility is a big selling point.”

The winning team of the showcase ‘Team WAWEL’ designed MASEC for Redbridge Council, a website which centralised all of the authority’s accessible transportation solutions, such as mobility card and taxis, alongside an eligibility to checker to increase awareness for residents.

As well as reducing the administrative burden for the council staff not having to manually manage profiles for social schemes, the platform is projected to save individual residents £200 on public transport by increasing the visibility of the council’s programmes.

Commenting on the process, Fazza Bajwa, a student member of the Team WAWEL said, “We’ve been in contact with Redbridge at every step of the way, and when they said to us that this was exactly what they wanted that was an enormous source of accomplishment. You don’t really get to apply what you learnt in class in a real-life situation like this at a university, and that’s been a great experience.”

King’s are committed to helping student teams develop their solution into a start-up should they wish. Our students are one of our greatest assets, and it's through them that we can make real lasting change for the communities we are all a part of.”– Professor Elena Simperl, academic lead on the programme

“The chance to directly work with a council and to directly impact a service that affects hundreds or even more people, has really shown me the impact that software engineering can have is much broader and much more significant than I anticipated.” said Pratap Guha, 4th year Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence MSci student

Professor Elena Simperl, academic lead of the programme at King’s said, “Not only are we a top research department in computer science, but we also embed innovation and impact at the heart of our curriculum.

"By working with local government, we can transfer our latest research findings straight to the practitioners at the coal face dealing with a plethora of diverse problems – all the while encouraging students to see the meaningful difference software design can make as part of their educational experience.

“As part of that, King’s are committed to helping student teams develop their solution into a start-up should they wish. Our students are one of our greatest assets, and it's through them that we can make real lasting change for the communities we are all a part of.”

Student projects

Team HeyenAWS: Conversate

Challenge

North Yorkshire Council struggles with unreliable third-party contractors and interpreters for face-to-face and video call meetings when communicating with residents who are not confidence speakers.

Availability issues and issues of cost present communication barriers for critical issues for residents when interacting with the council, particularly around areas such as immigration and benefit claims.

Solution

Conversate is a real-time language translation and transcription platform that allows council workers to communicate with non-English speakers without needing human interpreters.

Real-time speech transcription and translation
AI-powered sentiment and context analysis for more accurate translations
Option to review transcriptions, add comments, and download/email the final transcript
No data storage on the app for confidentiality of sensitive information

Benefits

24/7 availability compared to human interpreters and reduced costs of hiring third-party contractors for the council
Secure data handling through Microsoft single sign-on authentication
Public have improved access to council services regardless of language barriers
Faster resolution of issues without waiting for interpreter availability
Enhanced communication accuracy with context-aware translations

Team WAWEL: MASEC

Challenge

Redbridge Council has various accessible transportation solutions (mobility cards, taxi cards, dial-a-ride buses), but there's an awareness gap among residents, resulting in lower-than-expected uptake of these schemes.

How do you empower residents to travel independently and navigate transport options effectively?

Solution

MASEC is a streamlined website that centralises all publicly information on mobility schemes and features an eligibility checker that helps residents discover which schemes they qualify for.

A dynamic eligibility questionnaire assesses users' benefits, disabilities, and criteria to recommend what pathways are open to them
Multi-language support and comprehensive accessibility options (dark mode, sepia, high contrast, magnifier, font size)
An AI-powered chatbot (MBot) provides personalised advice
Presents a personalised journey planner with auto-filled accessibility options based on questionnaire results to get residents from A to B

Benefits

Reduces administrative burden for council staff not having to manually manage profiles for social schemes
Increased uptake of existing transportation schemes with centralised information
Potential savings of up to £200 per year per resident on public transport
Highly accessible interface with multiple language and display options
A fully customisable admin dashboard allows council works to change eligibility criteria to reflect changes in policy, without coding knowledge

Team BAMA: Accessible Forms and Documents

Challenge

Approximately 2% of the UK population don’t speak English, and 10% have dyslexia. For the multilingual population of Thurrock Council, these demographic challenges mean that many of the forms and documents that they rely on to communicate with residents are inaccessible.

Solution

A platform that utilises the base Thurrock Council website and enhances accessibility of forms and documents for non-English speakers and those with dyslexia through translation, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and document simplification.

Benefits

Speech-to-text functionality supporting approximately 100 languages – reducing need for expensive translation services

Text-to-speech supports number of dialects and accents to support specific users – increasing accessibility of council services
Document simplification using large language models to summarize and simplify complex text
Both translated and original form responses available for accuracy verification

Team 6 Guys: Imagine Moves

Challenge

Merton Council faces significant issues with unhealthy lifestyles among residents, with over 30,000 adults engaging in less than 30 minutes of physical activity per week. Existing directories for services are extensive but underutilized, particularly by younger demographics.

How do we get younger residents to engage with health and wellbeing services run by the council?

Solution

Team 6 Guys created an activity hub app called "Imagine Moves" that uses gamification and AI to increase accessibility and engagement with council health and wellbeing services.

It centralises information from multiple council directories into a single application and features a dashboard with bookable events and activity tracking to serve as a one-stop shop for all health and wellbeing services.

AI supported search tool
Points system and friend leaderboard for motivation
Provides push notifications for event updates and cancellations

Benefits

Increased engagement with existing services and analytics dashboard to track event popularity and user activity for council to make informed decisions on health strategy
Potential to drive economic growth for local businesses through reward partnerships, leading to increased motivation for individual residents
Integration with council directories using CSV or JSON files for details of event participants

Team AI Pioneer: Scheme Vault

Challenge

Social workers in Wiltshire Council and across the UK are overwhelmed by the increasing need to find reliable support schemes for families, with the manual process of finding schemes online being time-consuming and inefficient, with many council workers making a series of personalised word documents with links to programmes they personally know about.

Solution

Scheme Vault is a platform that provides a centralised database of support schemes (charities, financial schemes, heating schemes, food banks) with AI-enhanced features to keep information current and reliable.

-Automatic Scheme Finder that searches the web for new schemes
Outdated Scheme Checker that identifies expired or outdated information
Search and filtering based on keywords or location
Admin functionality for scheme verification and management

Benefits

Reduced workload for social workers in finding and verifying schemes and improved chances of connecting client with appropriate support services
Improved accuracy and currency of scheme information, with quicker access to pre-verified schemes
AWS analytics for tracking feature usage and guiding development

Scalable system with a maximum estimated cost of $250 USD per month to deal with expand schemes and potentially other councils

Team AWSome: Slotify

Challenge

Peterborough Council employees face difficulties booking and rescheduling meetings due to a closed calendar policy, resulting in time-consuming email exchanges, frequent cancellations, and overbookings.

Solution

Salsify is a scheduling assistant integrated with Microsoft Outlook that provides visibility into other users' availability, streamlining the process of booking and rescheduling meetings.

Integrated with Microsoft Outlook calendars
Rating system for meeting time slots based on attendees' schedules
Simplified rescheduling through direct requests to meeting organisers
Group creation for frequent meeting attendees

Benefits

Reduced time spent on scheduling and rescheduling meetings
Decreased instances of cancellations and overbookings
Better utilisation of staff time through streamlined scheduling
Integration with existing Microsoft Office environment

Team Ada: EHCP Case Management

Challenge

Achieving for Children manages a large number of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan applications, with the current email-based system creating complexity in gathering and collating data from various sources like doctors and teachers.

Solution

An application that streamlines the EHC plan process by consolidating all information related to individual cases into one platform, replacing the email-based system.

Case management dashboard showing all users assigned to a case with differentiating roles with different responsibilities - admin, coordinator, specialist, applicant, observer
File request functionality with deadlines and notifications
Analytics dashboard to identify delays in the EHC plan process

Benefit

Consolidates information from various sources into a single platform, streamlining the application process for EHC plans
Improved and transparent tracking of case progress and actions, with easier communication between specialists and co-ordinators
Enhanced security through encryption and UK-based data storage when compared to the previous email method

Team Critical Channel: Auditly

Challenge

In Hounslow, social workers need to return to the office to fill out expense forms. They spend up to 45 minutes per form which takes them away from the frontline of interacting with vulnerable kids. The tedious nature of form filling leads to delays and unfilled forms, complicating expense audits.

Solution

Otterly is an expense management system that automates form filling using AI, specifically a system called Norm, which can handle complex queries in a transparent and auditable manner, training itself on previously completed forms to autofill repeat requests.

Direct messaging for clarifications between social workers submitting form and managers approving form
Comprehensive audit log for tracking activities
Form board tracks approval stages of requests transparently

Benefits

Reduced time spent on form filling (saving up to 45 minutes per form)
Improved audit capabilities through detailed tracking
More time for social workers at the frontline

Team Congo Basin: Your Life Story

Challenge

When refugee children in care enter the UK, the create ongoing storybooks of their life to both remember where they came from and serve as continuous artefacts for reflection as they grow up.

These physical life storybooks face the risk of being misplaced or damaged, with resource limitations impacting their creation, and inconsistent quality due to varying social worker experience. Staffordshire Council are looking for a solution.

Solution

"Your Life Story" is a mobile app that digitises life storybooks, making them more accessible, secure, and engaging for children in care, their carers, and social workers.

Customisable digital text, images, and videos similar to physical life storybooks
Archiving of sensitive content that might trigger emotional responses
Export functionality to PDF for attachment to council case files

Benefits

Children never lose their life stories when moving between care settings
More engaging and multimedia-rich life story experience, with greater collaboration between children and carers
Significantly lower cost per user than physical life storybooks
Time and resource savings in storybook creation and in digital storage, with security assured by threat modelling and access control

Team Cadabra: Tony

Challenge

Problem Statement: Kingston Residents of Kingston Council face delays in receiving support for services, from support for job searches to home carer visits, due to scattered information across multiple websites. This leads to high call volumes at the council call centre.

Many calls are from individuals seeking personalised care from social workers or specific services, which could be solved with a more accessible digital interface.

Solution

An AI-powered chatbot named "Tony" that collates information from various sources to provide direct answers to residents' queries, reducing call centre volume.

Multi-language support and accessibility options (high contrast, font size adjustment, text-to-speech)
Data encryption to protect user input and chatbot responses
Option to export conversations as PDFs

Benefits

24/7 access to council information and personalised support recommendations
Reduced call centre volume and waiting times for residents with more complex queries
Improved service delivery through analytics of frequently asked questions – meaning faster answers for the majority of users
Improved accessibility through multiple language provision