Becca Hume’s first day working in a supermarket opened her eyes to the importance of inclusive communication, and started her on a journey to create an app for reporting 999 emergencies – and later incidents on public transport.

“My manager asked me to go and speak to a colleague, and I spotted him standing at an industrial lift with his back towards me. I was chatting away but he wasn’t responding, so thought I must be asking the wrong questions. It turned out he was Deaf.”

Notes were hastily exchanged on scraps of cardboard, but Becca felt she needed to do more to understand how to communicate with Deaf people, so started learning sign language.

“That moment aged 16 made me really think about accessibility, and I became curious about the opportunities to help the Deaf community.”

Over the next decade Becca became proficient in British Sign Language, studied fine art and product design and worked as a behavioural mentor at a girls’ school. She then launched a smartphone app in 2016 to help those who struggle with speech to communicate with the emergency services using text and graphics on a screen.

Three years ago, she founded technology firm Inclutech to take forward products that improve accessibility and digital inclusion for all. Last year she won funding and support from the Transport Research & Innovation Grants (TRIG) programme – delivered by Connected Places Catapult on behalf of the Department for Transport – to develop a system called ‘Safe Travels’ to allow public transport users to discreetly report criminal or disruptive behaviour.

“My company works to improve public safety, and I’m passionate about accessibility and inclusion,” Becca says. “If you design for the most vulnerable in society, you design for everybody and don’t exclude people further.”

From 999 emergencies to transport

Becca’s emergency services app – launched in 2016 – is called TapSOS and is suited to Deaf people, those with impaired hearing, who have difficulty speaking, or cannot talk due to a medical emergency or the threat of attack from someone else. The service also supports those reporting burglary, theft or violence.

Safe Travels takes the TapSOS one stage further by applying it to transport; allowing passengers to report anti-social behaviour, harassment or vandalism without drawing attention to themselves.

TRIG funding allowed Inclutech to conduct user research of the app in Northern Ireland with public transport operator Translink, and make redesigns based on feedback from passengers and staff. (According to the union Unite, 82% of bus drivers in Britain experienced abuse in 2023.)

This summer, Inclutech announced it had secured £400,000 of equity investment to commercialise its products: £250,000 from Ulster University and £150,000 from Clarendon Fund Managers on behalf of Invest NI.

It was also established that the app could help operators learn about incidents earlier than at present. “The next step would be to have several operators test it, and see if AI could be added,” says Becca. “A win for us would be if it helped more people to become confident using public transport.

“TRIG gave us access to people we wouldn’t normally have contact with, and allowed us to explore a different way to use our technology to solve another problem.”

Birthplace shaping her career

Becca was born in Belfast and has lived there her whole life. “It's a city with a colourful past, but a very positive future,” she says. “Technology is a good space to be in right now; and there’s lots of successful businesses coming out of Northern Ireland.”

Her father was a BT engineer who later set up his own music company and shop. “He was brave to step out and do something different. Dad saw an opportunity and went for it. His adventurousness and risk taking must have had an effect on me.”

Becca’s mother was a primary school teacher who specialised in special education needs. “Hearing her speak about neurodiversity in particular made me more empathetic.”

She studied fine art and silversmithing at Ulster University, and later a Masters in multidisciplinary design at the same university; exploring technology and its social impact.

After her Masters, Becca launched TapSOS. Her company has since secured investment from Ulster University and local venture capital firm Clarendon Fund Managers.

Inclutech has also developed another product to allow domestic abuse victims to make covert contact with the Police. “The perpetrator should never know the victim has access to the service, based on how it sits on a device,” she explains. “We designed it not only with victims in mind, but abusers as well – as we don’t want them to use the product.”

Her company now employs seven staff including two user experience designers. “Larger companies sometimes fall short when building a product because they didn’t ask enough people questions about how they would use it. We try and do that from the start.”

Working hard to make a difference

Being an innovator has, says Becca, “been hectic and is the most stressful thing I've done. There are so many sacrifices, and decisions to be made that are sometimes unpopular.

“In the early days, I would think ‘Oh my goodness, I’m completely out of my depth’ but now I have a team of people who are incredible and driving us to the next stage; bringing ideas I had not thought about.”

Becca says many systems in the public space involve ‘legacy tech’ which may no longer be fit for purpose, but are bound by a lengthy contract. “It’s a challenge if a switch cannot happen. But as innovators we can offer new solutions and move quickly.”

Why is innovation important? “Things evolve, and products and services need to adapt to fit what we need now,” she says. “Innovation challenges people to think differently, keep exploring and moving forward.”

Becca’s ambition is for TapSOS to become a go-to platform to seek help in an inclusive and accessible manner – and for it to become a default app on smartphones. “Ultimately our aim is to protect lives.”

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