Entrepreneurs with great ideas now have the opportunity to be part of a unique grants program that aims to support creative digital solutions for regional Australians.
The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) is thrilled to partner with nbn to deliver the Innovate with nbn Grants Program for the fifth consecutive year.
The initiative helps regionally based individuals and businesses transform ideas into game-changing products and developments that lift the digital capability of regional Australia.
A total prize pool is $125,000 is on offer and grants are available across seven categories: Agriculture, Arts, Education, Health, Indigenous Business, Tourism and Women in Regional Business.
The winner in each category receives $15,000, with the overall Innovate with nbn champion awarded an additional $20,000 grant to help take their idea to the next level.
RAI CEO Liz Ritchie said the grant program is an annual highlight, helping to shine a spotlight on innovators working to improve outcomes in both their communities and regional Australia.
“Technology has, and will continue to be, a catalyst for important change in the regions. We know when people have access to fast and reliable telecommunications connections that ideas and solutions can come to the fore,” Ms Ritchie said.
“The Innovate program helps to prove that with the right tools and services, it doesn’t matter if you’re in Barraba, Biloela or Bordertown, you can develop meaningful solutions that can help grow your business.”
Last year’s Health category winner and overall champion, Armidale based Observa Care, has used the grant funding to develop and expand a Remote Patient Monitoring system - a wearable sensor that utilises wireless technology to measure heart rate, oxygen saturation and blood pressure, uploading the data to a cloud-based dashboard allowing clinicians to assess a patient’s health status in real time.
“We use either a patch that goes on the chest or a watch that goes on a wrist and we can collect, in a just about continuous mode, all the sorts of parameters that people would expect to see measured in a hospital setting,” Observa Care Co-Founder Dr Rod Martin said.
“Without nbn we wouldn’t have had the ability to even conceive the idea,” Co-Founder Deborah Martin added.
Businesses harnessing the benefits of the nbn network to develop products or solutions that improve digital participation, productivity or social outcomes for regional and remote Australians are encouraged to apply.
Applications close at midnight Sunday, 29 September.
For more information and to apply, visit nbnco.com.au/innovatewithnbn
For media enquiries contact:
Regional Australia Institute
Melinda Hayter
Ph: 0498 373 300
E: [email protected]