What's Next for the Nightscout Foundation?

This is a long one, grab a cup of coffee.

Heck, it's New Years Eve, grab a cocktail instead. 

I've had a number of conversations with folks in the broader Nightscout community the last few weeks, as well as friends I know in the nonprofit world. It's almost amusing how many great people that have served on or managed nonprofit groups have asked me "How's it going?" with a sly smile on their face. I've come to learn that the one-year point is a pretty typical point to have an identity crisis if you're a non-profit. The initial adrenaline of something new is gone, and while many things have worked out, some haven't. Some days, it's simply a very frustrating place to be, and I know every member of the Foundation board has felt it. With that said, every single one of these people has been encouraging, and expects great things are still in the works. We've also had some incredible highlights in 2015:

  • PCORI contract awarded in partnership with Dr. Lee's team.
  • Selection as one of BT1's first group of grantees, with an award of $20,000 for piloting a research project
  • Approval of our Microsoft Azure for Research grant request, giving the Foundation expanded resources in the Azure framework.
  • Deeper relationship with Pebble on the business side for our user base, enabling over 1,000 community members to upgrade or purchase new Pebbles
  • Incredible success with Children with Diabetes conferences in 2015.

It's important to note that these are the bigger pieces of the puzzle that we initially set out to accomplish, leveraging the power of a community to do more, together.

So, what's next?

In 2016, we're going to focus on that very question, "What's next?"  You're going to see us push projects and efforts that offer support to as broad a cross section of the "We Are Not Waiting," family as possible. I believe that by focusing on the needs of this group, we can offer something long lasting and impact the T1 community in places other groups aren't. To that end, you'll see the Nightscout Foundation focus on these areas:

  1. Community and Outreach Efforts. This includes the continued support of the CGM in the Cloud group, but also other social media and communication channels. This also includes  our support and/or presence at CWD, D-Data, #makehealth and other conferences that impact our community of citizen scientists. Wes' efforst in this area are beyond measure, and I know he's already planning on how to make this year even better. What's next? Honorariums for CWD Presenters to help defray the costs for our most ardent supporters.
  2. Software QA and Usability. The edges are an incredibly exciting place, but they're also where the edges are sharpest. We've seen the community grow dependent on Nightscout in all its permutations, and I believe we can support the people doing the dirty work of optimization and QA/QC. We're still having a lot of talks, but it's important that we focus on making the software dependable for the customer base, and simplify the options and process of getting people's data where they want it, when they want it. What's next? Simple apps for each platform that work and alert as needed to match the current user expectations and development efforts based on user survey and support team input.
  3. Creating a Nightscout STEM Scholarship Fund. This was part of the original five year goal, but provides an easy and obvious way for the Foundation to support the next wave of hackers, do-gooders, and tinkerers. The initial recipients would be college-bound kids that show aptitude for making, serving, and are T1. Depending on funding, this could expand to sending people to camps. Gail Devore will be heading up this effort, look for more information in the next couple of weeks. What's next? We don't know, but we're going to support the next generation of makers that will show us.
  4. Relationship Building. Working with Microsoft and Pebble has been incredibly beneficial for our community already. We can continue to make strides with groups like Beyond Type 1, University of Michigan, and others to deliver resources to the community. With a more clear focus on the projects above, we can reach back out to groups like JDRF, ADA and Banting to present them focused projects and goals that they can evaluate for support. What's next? Partnerships that deliver resources and opportunities to our community in a way that reduces the burden of T1 on their lives.

We have an incredibly vibrant community that loves the Nightscout project and the people around it. We have incredibly smart people in that community that can offer their skills in development, management, QA/QC, marketing, reviewing, supporting, evangelizing, whatever you ask. It's time to really show our community's strength and tackle some of these challenges. I've said numerous times that I consider the greatest goal of the Foundation is to enable smart people to do incredible things. To me, every one of these areas is serving that greatest goal.

11953207_471330056383223_1598093274726160568_n.jpg

You'll also see the Foundation acting more cohesively, and we're planning a few meetings throughout the year to reconnect with each other and the wider community. We're looking to wrap events around the April CWD event, July in Florida with CWD, and then November in alignment with D-Data. I cannot tell you how much better I felt coming out of D-Data after sitting down with Jason, West, John and Ben and just talking broadly about Nightscout and the Foundation. I'm also setting up monthly Hangouts, and they will be open to anyone that wants to hear the boring business be part of the conversation, or throw out an idea.

We are moving in to what's next. We've enjoyed an incredible first year and it's time to get down to real work for this community. I personally commit to more work and better communication with  the broader community, and I hope each of you will feel free to e-mail me personally if there is some place where I or the Foundation can assist you or a project you love. 

Thank you to every single person that has supported the Foundation this year, through a kind word, direct donations, or by volunteering at one of the events. Thank you for all you do for our community. 

James Wedding, P.E.
President, Board of Directors

 

The Only Way I'm Ever Getting in to Stanford

First, let me say thank you to Amy Tenderich and the entire team at Diabetes Mine for offering me an invitation to the D-Data Exchange at Stanford this past week. Thanks to Howard Look at the great team at Tidepool for supporting such a great event. Thanks especially to Weston, John, Ben, Adrian and Joyce from the Nightscout community for answering my silly newbie questions, and giving me rides all over town!

As I sat last year reading the news out of the D-Mine event, Nightscout was the funny looking new kid in the corner. Everybody was excited to have something to talk about, but nobody quite knew what to make of the project. Would it shut down with the Share release from Dexcom? Would the FDA step in? Would they get sued into oblivion? Would Lassie ever rescue Timmy from the well? Way more questions than answers!

This year, Nightscout was on everybody's lips and it was the most amazing feeling. On Thursday afternoon, we had a chance to visit with representatives from a host of companies and research groups, and everyone was so excited about the growth and continued opportunities for Nightscout. I have to thank Joyce especially for taking such an interest in the community. Partnering with the U of Michigan on the PCORI project really validates the process, and legitimizes our group in the eyes of many other stakeholders in the diabetes community. 

During the break, we visited with attendees and I really began to realize what kind of lightning in a bottle we have in terms of this community. There are lots of follow up discussions to be had, but I'm looking forward to the next few months. Expect to see more opportunities for using your Nightscout data in different ways and opportunities to pay it forward by sharing your data or your thoughts in surveys and research projects.  There is real excitement in the community around the liquidity of personal data and how patients want to use it, and I think Nightscout has a lot to do with that. 

On Friday, the conference was a bit more corporate, moving from discussions of data standards and APIs into research projects, FDA and HHS presentations, and a small group project revolving around "the next big innovation," for diabetes. It was a massive amount of information from a host of really smart people. Keep an eye on Diabetes Mine for their summary of the days presentations. 

It was an unexpected highlight, and a new feature of the conference to see Innovation awards presented by the Diabetes Mine team. Nightscout was nominated in the category of Glucose Control, alongside Dexcom and MySugr. Such incredible company to be in! Dexcom won for their work on the G4/G5 CGM device, and we couldn't be happer to congratulate them on their work, since they really are the basis for so much of OUR work. 

There will be reports from the D-Mine team to come, but in the mean time,  the Close Concerns team has a great draft write-up that you can read here. 

As we wrapped up Friday night, I had the pleasure of dining with these fine folks. From left, that's Adrian de Croy, Wes Nordgren, me, Dr. Joyce Lee, John Costik, and Ben West. Over dinner and a few glasses of wine, we kept talking diabetes, the FDA, and what's next. I couldn't help but be reminded how much the human touch matters, and how much being able to look at someone when they talk matters. We have a thriving online community, but nothing matches recognizing the passion in someone's eyes as they talk about a piece of this project that they love. I am inspired by these people to do more, and I hope this next year you'll see that come to life. I hope you'll plan now to join us at a CWD conference this year or one of the other events where NIghtscout has a presence. I plan to put a calendar of events together, and you'll see a link to it on this page.

Thank you to every single person that's reading this. You are part of the Nightscout family, and all the success we've had this past year, from the funny looking kid to the belle of the ball, we owe it to you.