Dr Fernando Otero to help develop next generation of social planning tools

Dr Fernando Otero is to lead a group of academics working on a new project to develop the next generation of social planning tools. This exciting 30 month project with PlanSnap has been awarded funding through the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme.

PlanSnap, based in London, has developed and launched an app which enables social planning on any platform. The platform gets everyone to agree quickly on the details of any kind of social plan – who, what, where and when – in just a few taps. PlanSnap was interested in working with the University to gain valuable expertise in order to embed expert data analytics and a deep understanding of social networking theories. This new knowledge will enable PlanSnap to develop the next generation of social planning tools.

The KTP is the first of its kind for the University as expertise will be provided by a team of four academics across three different academic disciplines; Computing, Engineering and Psychology. Dr Fernando Otero and the academic team will supervise a recently qualified postgraduate who will work day-to-day at PlanSnap's offices embedding this innovative new capability and upskilling PlanSnap's employees.

Louise Doherty, CEO, PlanSnap is really looking forward to the collaboration and said "We're thrilled to be working with the incredible academic team at the University of Kent. It's an exciting partnership with complementary skills and goals that will help us on our mission to be the global go-to way to get groups together."

KTPs are a UK-wide Government programme helping businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through better use of knowledge, technology and skills that reside within the UK academic knowledge base. The project was developed with the support of KTP staff within the University's Innovation & Enterprise Department (KIE).