Willeasy is Italy's first digital ecosystem for users with specific needs who want to find facilities best able to accommodate them.
Last updated 17 August 2021
It's called Willeasy and it is Italy's first inclusion-oriented digital ecosystem, designed to allow people with specific needs (due to disability, advanced age, food allergies/intolerances, travelling with pets, babies and young children, pregnancy, etc.) to find events and facilities compatible with their requirements. All under the banner of sustainability, because Willeasy connects the environment with people, and does so in a sustainable and direct way.
The startup, which has joined the LifeGate Way ecosystem — the group's subsidiary tasked with building a network of sustainable startups with a focus on open innovation — was founded on an idea by William Del Negro and aims to help the 20 million people in Italy who have specific and particular needs. A few figures: 12 per cent of the Italian population is over 75, and one in three families owns a dog or another four-legged companion that they often want to bring along on holiday. Then there are coeliacs, vegetarians, vegans and people with disabilities, who find themselves having to give up a holiday or an experience simply because they cannot find the information they need.
Having been recognised at the Friuli Innovazione technology park, in 2020 Willeasy received the Top of the pid prize from Unioncamere, awarded by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. Del Negro's project combines innovation and social impact.
It is for this reason too that the Friulian startup launched the first version of its accessibility search engine, as well as Willeasy Rileva, the application for collecting objective data on places, facilities and, soon, events too. Users will be able to search for hotels, restaurants, museums, medical practices, public offices, as well as car parks, ATMs and monuments compatible with their personal needs. What's more, a detailed accessibility profile for the location searched will also be available to consult.
"In this first phase we have made the core functions available, namely search and viewing the detailed accessibility profile. Over the coming months the site will be enriched with new features, such as the ability to book a hotel or to choose to display only the information relevant to one's own needs," says Del Negro, who also explains how efforts are being made to bring entrepreneurs into the Willeasy ecosystem through an offer that rewards the first two thousand members to sign up.
But it will be users themselves who contribute to the development of the project and, above all, to the collection of useful data and information. "People have just come back from their holidays: we would like to involve them during this particular time of year to trigger a virtuous mechanism that, once set in motion, will be unstoppable," Del Negro continues. "Our appeal is directed at people with specific needs who have had positive and satisfying experiences both during their summer holidays and in everyday life. The action required is to flag up exemplary facilities (hotels, restaurants, bars, farm stays, shops) on our portal. It will then be Willeasy's task to get in touch with these businesses to carry out the accessibility data survey, which will be published and made available to everyone." The startup also aims to build a genuine network of professional surveyors, aided by the support of strategic partner Remoove, which provides consultancy, design and training services to promote inclusive thinking. And so, in an increasingly data-driven world, Willeasy makes information available to people in an effective way, particularly in cases where that information is hard to find.