Paisley academic helps develop app to support ethnic minority communities

Description

A Paisley academic who helped develop an app to support ethnic minorities during the Covid-19 pandemic has been recognised for his commitment to diversity and inclusion.

UWS Professor, Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir won the STEM Inspiring Diversity and Inclusion award, in recognition of his research and contribution to supporting a diverse and inclusive Scotland, through the development of ‘Stay Safe Scotland’.

Funded by the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO) Scotland and Scottish government, the app sought to overcome major barriers faced by ethnic minority communities in Scotland by providing social distancing guidelines in a variety of different languages and predicting footfall data at nearly 100 supermarkets throughout the country, to help users schedule visits at quieter times, and to avoid queuing and overcrowding.