In the period of 2020 to 2024, Safe4, will develop a digital In-Home Delivery ecosystem.
The project, a cooperation between SINTEF, one of Europe’s largest independent research organisations, and a consortium of industrial players. It is funded by Forskningsrådet (Norwegian Research Council) and the project partners. The total budget is NOK 30 million. Key targets, in addition to developing the solution, will be to evaluate transport optimization measures related to CO2 footprint. It will also be to monitor consumer behaviour in order to find out how consumers adapt to remotely granting In-Home Services, such as messengers, healthcare workers and craftsmen, access to their private homes.
Collaborators and SINTEF research
In August, the Norwegian Research Council assigned Safe4 with the responsibility of building the digital ecosystem “Lås Opp” – Safe Unlock. This is a collaborative project funded and carried out by the consortium partners: Homeboxx, PostNord, Komplett, PostLogi, Safe4, SINTEF and Stansefabrikken. The projects associated consortium participants are: AF Håndverk, EasyAccess, Keyfree and Telia.
User experience and consumer behaviour by digitalization of lock control and access management is key to “Lås Opp” and valuable knowledge which Safe4 will greatly benefit from. As responsible for the research part of the project, SINTEF will focus on measuring consumer behaviour, both pre and past the project. They will also look at the environmental benefits of transport optimization for transport agent competition and how these pertain to sustainability in our society.
Project manager Solveig Meland at SINTEF states the following about the project and Safe4’s role:
«The entire SINTEF team is looking forward to carry out Unlock together with such a knowledgeable and security-oriented company as Safe4 Security Group. Logistics and transport optimization projects related to home delivery solutions have been carried out before, but they have, among other things, stranded on proprietary access to the ecosystem, which helps to limit the benefit, and thus the interest of the end user. The ambition in Unlock is to establish a “technology-agnostic” ecosystem which in principle will be open to all relevant parties that supply goods and services. This will enable the development of new logistics solutions and service offerings that will provide greater perceived benefit to consumers, consequently creating increased interest in the market. Such an ecosystem is something much more demanding than establishing landing pages for social media. This is something we beleive the partners will handle professionally together!»
Safe Unlock – secure and flexible delivery behind digital locks
As project owner, Safe4 is tasked with establishing a digital platform for secure delivery of goods and services behind digital locks, regardless of location. In other words, the digital locks may be situated either at your front door, or at a delivery box outside your home. The system will also be able to re-route goods and services from the main delivery point to alternative destinations, all while maintaining safe integration of sensitive information such as lock codes, identity and authorization. These are all areas of expertise that Safe4 has built over decades.
New possibilities for home healthcare providers
Coping with Covid19 has brought on a tremendous digital development for many services, healthcare service providers included. For some, the situation has instigated a 10-year digital leap. Safe4 started to develop safe digital lock systems already in the 80’s, cooperating with many renown lock manufacturers and finding solutions for secure code downloads. We can safely claim that security is part of our DNA, something which we are sure to capitalize on going forward.
Safe and traceable access for health workers as well as safe transmission of personal data is key for public and private healthcare providers. An extended feature of the Safe Unlock project is to provide monitored, safe and punctual access to private homes for accredited, ID checked people. In other words, Safe Unlock can help you safely grant access to who you want, when you want.
Safeguarding and tracking
Other tasks like safeguarding the delivery chain for prescribed medication to a private home can be fulfilled by checking all involved ID’s and profiles of messengers involved in the process. Medication authorized by public health authorities can be delivered with full tracking of all incidents, delivery zones and handlers. The entire In-Home delivery chain will be tracked carefully and registered, as data are handled in the Safe4 cloud solution which is prepared to match the security levels of public health services (when these, in due time, are approved by Norwegian or other local authorities).
There are seemingly unlimited needs for remote home lock management which enables homeowners to safely grant entrance for craftsmen, dog walkers and others. In the Safe Unlock project, the use of open standards is one of the main principles. Still, full security both for locks and codes can be maintained, and the lock-owner will remain fully free and in control.
Opportunities for B2B resellers
The solutions of “Lås Opp” will open new comprehensive business opportunities for our B2B resellers. In addition, it will open new opportunities to meet municipalities´ need for safe handling of entry to private homes in an Access Management System. Physical keys are history and digital solutions can take over.
Keyfree, the software module handling the Safe Unlock services, is a new member to the Safe4 Iotiliti ecosystem. It enables our resellers and channels to extend their business proposition by including Access Management and lock handling solutions to the professional consumer and SMB market. In this way we are bringing extended value to new deployments or already installed HomeGates (gateways).
HomeGate backed by Keyfree fulfils the needs for both in- and to-the-home services. From an international cross-border perspective, this will add to an exponential growth in the Safe4 marketplace and recurring revenue subscription models where centralised global handling replaces travel.
