Over a year into the coronavirus pandemic, with industries being overwhelmed by the complexities of re-opening safely, there is one sector in safe hands.
The New York State education system has the opportunity to utilize re-open.com to help its staff and students return to learning safely.
Using re-open.com's Smart Analytical Model (SAM), the entirety of the New York School system’s PPE requirements can be calculated in under 30 seconds, navigating thousands of pages of regulations from dozens of regulators, government departments, and agencies.
With many schools operating at partial capacity due to fears of spreading the virus, and with parents given the choice to have their children opt-in to in-person instruction, it seems an ambitious task to attempt to re-open a school at full capacity.
It is an ambitious task and re-open.com is a willing partner, ready to assist.
re-open.com is a cloud-based platform with multiple apps to support facilities and infrastructure now and into the future. One of these apps, SAM, is a software that predicts and recommends optimal re-opening products and solutions by using artificial neural networks and artificial intelligence to navigate regulations. The organization is focussing on the New York State education system as the first industry they help to re-open.
re-open.com’s CEO and Founder, David A. Collard says the decision to help the education sector first is a personal one. The son of two retired teachers, Collard says, “teaching is a noble profession… it’s not right to have teachers put at risk.”
Collard is a global business executive who has made a career navigating all forms of complex regulations for some of the world’s largest clients. For 15 years he worked at PwC, originally starting in its Australian firm before making Partner in the New York office at just 32 years of age. He runs companies across multiple industries and continents, fostering innovation wherever he goes.
Collard’s strong sense of morality is a pillar of re-open.com. Witnessing the devastation New York faced at the height of the pandemic in 2020 firsthand, he was compelled to put his unique skill set to work and make a positive impact amid the chaos. Now, the software is ready to re-open a vital industry.
The data of every New York State school has been preloaded into SAM, which lets every school navigate the complex re-opening regulations without having to do any input. This regulation technology predicts which products are needed and at what volume. These products are available to New York State schools at a reduced rate and come from approved and vetted vendors that accord with the preferences and procurement needs of the customer. Additionally, the intuitive web-based app assists those schools eligible for FEMA reimbursement as it meets requirements regarding necessity, responsible vendors, price, and forecast supply among others.
“So far, purchasing decisions regarding PPE and protection against the virus have been made on sub-optimal data – essentially a trial-and-error approach,” says Collard. “There have even been reports of teachers buying PPE for their classes out of their own pocket.
“Not only is this potentially dangerous, but it is also economically irresponsible. Using guesswork to make these decisions leaves the supply of safeguards up to chance, potentially oversupplying and providing the wrong products.
“And this is not the fault of the hardworking school staff doing their best - there is a vast amount of regulatory material one needs to sift through in order to get a clear indication of what PPE is required for the relevant industry.
“It’s time-consuming and often impossible for busy education professionals to do. Until now, there has been nothing substantial to help navigate these waters.
“If every school in the United States were to utilize re-open.com to decipher and supply their re-opening solution at government rates, there would be a saving of US$19 billion. To put that in perspective, that amount of money could fund 300,000 teachers’ salaries for a year or cover the cost of building more than 500 schools from scratch. And that’s just the education industry.”
Living in New York, Collard bore witness to the injustices that sprung from the pandemic, one of which was people exploiting the impact of the virus for financial gain. To him, it is crucial the marketplace leveraged by re-open.com is fairly priced and from reputable suppliers. “It’s about getting it right,” he says. “re-open.com is committed to helping industries re-open their physical workplaces with exactly what is needed in the right quantity and at the right price.”
For the New York State education system, re-open.com takes all the hard work out of deciphering a safe re-opening solution. The web-based apps understand dense regulations and navigate suppliers, as well as having a unique understanding of each school. Using SAM, a tailored safety solution can be calculated in four steps and is provided alongside regulatory materials and advice to help understand the products.
“In choosing the education sector as the first industry we would help open, re-open.com has made a bold move. Unlike static workplaces with minimal movement, schools are vibrant and bustling environments. They are not limited to single buildings but utilize both indoor and outdoor spaces. They house children and adolescents of all ages, adult staff members, and have medical facilities such as sick bays.”
Even with such a diverse environment, finding and calculating the solution for any one of the thousands of schools in New York State can be done using SAM on re-open.com in under half a minute. The intuitive system proves itself as an innovative and ground-breaking step toward re-opening the world.