HPO Technologies Limited is dedicated to developing and delivering software solutions that enable UK-Defence and other critical organisations to manage the health, readiness and performance of its people.
The three-year Innovate UK-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between the University of Bath’s Department for Health, and the dynamic UK-based SME, will integrate HPO’s cutting-edge software development with the University’s world-leading expertise in human motivation and behaviour change.
This will advance the HPO system from a data-enabled human performance platform into a user-centric behaviourally intelligent system, which goes beyond standard fitness technologies. The platform’s evidence-based digital intervention capabilities will enable organisations to better understand, support, and evaluate human performance at scale; moving from reactive to a proactive approach in improving health, wellbeing, and operational effectiveness across high-performance environments.
Professor James Bilzon, Knowledge Base Lead from the Department for Health at the University of Bath, is an internationally recognised expert in human and applied physiology. His research is focused on uniformed services personnel working in physically demanding occupations. He says:
We are delighted to be awarded a KTP with HPO Technologies to develop innovative new platform capabilities within their product offering. The novel, evidence-based digital intervention will add a layer of behavioural assessment within their software engineering. This will empower organisations to effectively assess the engagement of service personnel for sustaining optimal performance, and within their own operational setting for real-time intervention.
Associate Professor Dr Max Western, Knowledge Base Supervisor from the Department for Health, is a behavioural scientist with expertise in the psychology of human motivation and behaviour change. He says:
Integrating motivation and behaviour change frameworks within HPO software, through the KTP, is essential for effective personalised digital health interventions that can meet the needs of high-demand strategic industries, such as defence. It is hoped that over time this can be adapted and rolled out to other uniform services and performance occupations, to boost health and wellbeing of the UK workforce.
Dr Tessa Maroni, Human Performance Scientist at HPO and KTP Business Partner Supervisor, says:
This KTP with the University of Bath will provide a step-change in our capability and evidence-informed product development at HPO. Embedding the University of Bath’s leading expertise in motivation, behaviour change and digital engagement science within our software architecture will fundamentally change how our digital interventions are designed, personalised, validated, and scaled across operational environments.
The KTP is managed through the Business Partnerships and Knowledge Exchange (BPKE) team in Research and Impact Services (RIS) at the University of Bath. Emma Riddle, BPKE Manager, says:
This KTP is a landmark for the University of Bath in our 60th anniversary, as it is the first time the Department for Health has exclusively been awarded a KTP since the successful Innovate UK programme started over 50 years ago. It is anticipated this will be a catalyst for paving the way for other KTPs within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), demonstrating how innovative research can be applied to solve real-world challenges for high impact across a range of disciplines.
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are funded by Innovate UK to help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills within the UK knowledge base. More on KTPs
Photo caption: Left to right: From HPO Technologies, Tessa Maroni, Human Performance Scientist; Felix Wright, Head of Business Development and Partnerships; From the University of Bath, Emma Riddle, Business Partnerships and Knowledge Exchange Manager; Professor James Bilzon, Knowledge Base Lead; and Association Professor Dr Max Western, Knowledge Base Supervisor.
For further information on KTPs, contact the KTP team: partnerships@bath.ac.uk.