For the first time ever, in-home care providers will be able to use and contribute to the same technology under an announcement made by a handful of reformist meals on wheels providers today.

A new entity called Future Fit Collective, which named after the government-funded transformation project the founding members were involved in, will be responsible for guiding the development of the software.

“Today marks a new era in how software can be used to provide essential infrastructure to government-funded in-home care providers in a way that upholds the principle of market parity.”
Peter Gallagher, Manager of Tamworth Meals on Wheels and Founding Director of Future Fit Collective said. 

The software called Open Care Tech can currently support basic operations of meal providers delivering fresh and/or frozen meals to older Australians, National Disability Insurance Scheme participants or private clients.

Two care providers have already committed to using Open Care Tech and investing in its development, with more expected to follow. 

Neridah Morris, CEO of Meals on Wheels Central Coast (Director of Future Fit Collective Ltd and first service to use Open Care Connect) said “We are all better, and stronger, together – rather than people spending time and money doing the same or similar things over and over again – why wouldn’t we share the technology we helped build, so that we can all spend more time with our clients.” 

“We are one of the largest meals on wheels services in New South Wales, and if this technology works for us then I am sure it will do wonders for smaller services perhaps without the capital base to invest in bespoke software designed to improve the quality and efficiency of in-home meal services.” Morris said.

It is expected that a lively vendor and developer community will form around Open Care Tech, helping end users adapt the platform to meet their needs, as well as providing support to access and use the software on an ongoing basis. 

Peter English, Service Manager from Dubbo Meals on Wheels (Founding Director of Future Fit Collective Ltd) said, “Meals on wheels might be thought of as an old brand, but you don’t get to hang around this long without knowing how to embrace new and better ways of doing things.” 

The licensing arrangement means anyone can use the software on the condition that any improvements made in alternate versions of the program also be open-source. 

Providing open-source software to anyone who wants it, will not only save taxpayers money, but will help all care providers improve the quality of their services through modern infrastructure.

By collaborating and pooling resources, technology can advance commensurate with the demand for specific functions, with a greater ability to adapt to a frequently changing operating environment.

A number of existing vendors in the aged care sector, designers and developers have offered to contribute to the software to help in-home care providers improve useability and functionality.

At least once a quarter, Future Fit Collective will release a list of priority enhancements and functionality based on consultation and feedback, so that contributors have a clear understanding of what work will provide the greatest benefits both to current users and the broader community.

The objective of any aged or disability care service should be to have more time to spend with clients. By being part of this initiative service providers will benefit from the co-investment of other services, helping to lift the quality of care across everyone involved. 

Sue Green, Manager of Sutherland Food Services (Founding Director of Future Fit Collective Ltd) said, “Building a community of users and ecosystem of paid and volunteer developers is not dissimilar to what each of us does in running a meal service.” 

“Anyone who has managed a volunteer-driven organisation knows that being able to point to the public good is critical in being able to recruit people to your cause – and this is a unique opportunity for the IT sector to show some love, albeit in-directly, to their grand-parent’s generation,” she said

The Future Fit Collective is encouraging anyone who needs the software to use it, and anyone who wants to contribute to the software’s enhancement to do so – for the greater good.