The enthusiasm within the Kalahari Resort was palpable. What an exciting environmental health conference in Round Rock hosted by the Texas Environmental Health Association (TEHA). Hedgerow Software was in attendance and sponsoring the event, which enabled us to meet many environmental health professionals at agencies across Texas and other states. Bob Gouin and Robyn Coates did a wonderful job hosting demos, discussing EH trends, and making new friends in the industry. Bob’s 25+ years as an EH practitioner give him a unique vantage point for technology-related conversations. While Robyn’s work with our clients across the US and Canada enables her to really understand agency needs and challenges.
(Bob and Robyn prepare to meet with attendees at TEHA’s conference)
Given their unique industry experience, I asked Bob and Robyn what the three major trends were in their TEHA discussions. I think you’ll find them interesting, especially for agencies on the fence about attending upcoming regional events or looking for new technology to solve difficult challenges. In short, the next environmental health conference will be worth your time, especially considering:
In Person Environmental Health Conferences Are Back
TEHA sessions and the expo hall were lively, attendees' curiosity was high, as was the overall interest to improve skills and learn about emerging trends, best practices, and the latest technology for EH professionals. Honestly, we weren’t sure what to expect onsite given the pandemic but were pleasantly surprised by the turnout and levels of engagement.
(Bob Gouin of Hedgerow Software with customer Stevan Walker from City of Lubbock)
Specialized Environmental Health Technology vs Civic Platforms
In my last blog post I wrote about the benefits of technology specialization vs broad civic platforms. TEHA showed us it’s still a topic of conversation and we heard quite a few stories about agencies feeling that most EH technology is moving too far away from satisfying their primary requirements. For example, a common request at our booth was for demos featuring wastewater treatment / septic workflows. Also, the fact that incumbent technology vendors (i.e. our competitors) in Texas are struggling to provide efficient ways to manage new food regulations within the state. While one agency did discuss the need for cross-departmental permitting, the vast majority of attendees we spoke with wanted to see very specific use cases tailored to their needs within environmental health.
Multilingual Technology is Top of Mind
Given the overall shifting of demographic trends in the US and Texas related to Spanish speaking communities, there was also significant interest in technology to improve multilingual agency interfaces. While this capability is available for community members, such as portals that are available in English or Spanish, features haven't been developed for Spanish-as-a-first-language EH professionals. Hedgerow recently launched French multilingual capability in our Hedgehog product suite, which was a request from Canadian customers. Now we’re squarely focused on building similar features for Spanish speaking EH professionals.
I hope you found this post insightful and we look forward to seeing you at the next regional environmental health conference. If there were any other interesting trends at TEHA, please leave a comment below or on Hedgerow’s Facebook page. We’d like to hear from you!
