Developed by a Samsun Teknopark team led by Dr. Sema Gül, the platform supports parents with infant care and development tracking through expert-reviewed guidance, while its first local implementation provides free access to families in Kavak.

A team based at Samsun Teknopark, led by Dr. Sema Gül, has developed the AI-supported “Digital Grandmother” (Dijital Büyükanne) platform to help parents who may have less access to the experience and support traditionally provided by extended families while raising a baby.

Led by Gül, Academic Advisor to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) Developmental Education Application and Research Center, the project provides parents with expert guidance on infant care and developmental monitoring.

The project is also supported by Prof. Dr. Canan Seren of the OMU Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics, who contributes clinical expertise, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muhammer Türkoğlu, Head of Software Sciences at Samsun University, who contributes to the development of the software systems.

Samsun Teknopark General Manager Levent Tanrıverdi and the Teknopark administration, under the leadership of OMU Rector Prof. Dr. Fatma Aydın, have also supported efforts to bring the platform together with public institutions and families.

Parents who download the mobile application to their phones or access the platform on their computers can create a subscription and submit questions about their babies by writing messages or uploading images and photographs.

The Digital Grandmother team responds through the platform, while voice or video consultations can also be arranged upon request.

A digital response to changing family structures

Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Gül said her team had been working on infant assessment for approximately seven years.

She explained that changes in family structures and digital lifestyles had revealed a growing need for new forms of support.

“We have moved from an extended-family structure toward a nuclear-family culture,” Gül said. “We saw that families were experiencing significant difficulties in receiving support from older generations.”

“Parents are no longer necessarily raising their babies alongside their own parents, nieces, nephews, or cousins. When people become parents for the first time, they can feel very anxious. We therefore developed a platform to respond to this need and called it ‘Digital Grandmother.’”

Parents can consult experts on everyday infant care

Gül said parents can use the platform to ask questions about a wide range of issues concerning their babies.

“If they notice a problem on their baby’s skin, they can take a photograph and send it to us,” she said. “We can then respond with expert support.”

“They can ask us about their baby’s sleep routine. They send us information about how often they are changing diapers, and we can assess whether this may indicate that the baby is feeding sufficiently and provide appropriate guidance.”

The team can also provide information about issues such as safe sleep positioning and everyday infant care.

“Just as a grandmother might support a mother at home, we provide that support through a digital platform,” Gül said.

Expert guidance distinguishes the platform from general AI tools

Gül emphasized that while the Digital Grandmother platform uses artificial intelligence, responses to parents are based on expert assessment rather than on AI-generated information alone.

“We know that simply using an artificial intelligence model does not necessarily mean that you will reach accurate information,” she said. “That is one of the greatest advantages of the Digital Grandmother platform.”

“When a mother asks something about her child, the response she receives reflects what the relevant experts would advise.”

Gül gave the example of a parent reporting that their baby has a fever of 38°C.

“In such a situation, we provide information intended to protect the baby’s health and explain what steps the family should take, including where they should seek medical care if a physician’s assessment is necessary,” she said.

First field implementation launched with Kavak Municipality

Gül said the platform’s first local implementation had been launched in the Kavak district of Samsun through a protocol signed with Kavak Municipality.

“We signed a protocol with Kavak Municipality,” she said. “Through this protocol, babies aged 0–24 months in Kavak will be supported, families will receive free access to the Digital Grandmother platform, and the babies will be followed for a period of 24 months.”

Gül noted that the platform is already available online from anywhere and can be accessed through different paid subscription options.

“We have also begun working on ways to reach families who may not be able to benefit from the service through those subscription models,” she said. “Our cooperation with Kavak Municipality is the first step in that direction.”

“Other institutions can also contact us and provide access to the platform for individuals or families they would like to support.”

University knowledge transferred into public service

Samsun Teknopark General Manager Levent Tanrıverdi said discussions with Kavak Municipality were initiated as part of Dr. Sema Gül’s project.

“The mayor was very interested in the project and wanted children in the district to benefit from it,” Tanrıverdi said.

He described the initiative as an example of transferring knowledge generated at universities into services that can be used by local communities through cooperation with public institutions.

“In this sense, knowledge produced at the University is being transferred to public institutions and made available to local users through a university–industry cooperation model,” he said.