AIIA announces recipients of National iAwards

The Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) has announced the eight winners of the 27th annual 2020 National iAwards. Judged by over 60 industry professionals, 27 innovators made it through the state and territory finals to the National iAwards held on 17 November, where winners and merit recipients came together for a virtual celebration.

The iAwards aim to reward excellence in the Australian digital technology ecosystem. Over two weeks, the AIIA hosted five virtual state ceremonies awarding the best in innovation and technology from each state, recognising seven national winners and nine merit recipients.

“Each of the category winners are a demonstration of companies who are making a meaningful difference in the world and have the potential to create positive change for the community — whether this be at home, in the office or on a global scale,” said Ron Gauci, AIIA CEO.

The process for the 2020 iAwards changed significantly, with entrants submitting a three-minute pitch along with their submission. Entrants demonstrated the ways that businesses, government departments, start-ups and not-for-profit organisations have adapted to a COVID-19 world.

“There is a need for strong domestic skills and an innovation ecosystem which will allow Australia to compete more competitively on the global scale. Combined with the investments in digital infrastructure and capability and the changes made to R&DTI by the Commonwealth Government in its budget recently, there is a real opportunity right now for innovators in this country. We believe our winners are reflective of what Australia has to offer to the world,” said Gauci.

The National iAwards were presented in six categories, along with two other awards: the Victorian Government Inspiration Award and the People’s Choice Award, voted by the attendees on the night. The six categories include Government, Education, NFP, Start-ups, Tech Platform and Industry Solutions.

Amica, a company that helps couples who are separating to make parenting arrangements and divide their money and property, received the National iAward in the Government category. The NSW Spatial Digital Twin was a merit recipient in the same category.

The Auslan Gesture Translator, developed by three students at Emmanuel College, received the iAward under the Education category. The glove translates Australian sign language (Auslan) to text. Merit recipients for the category included Move2NewCity and Talk to the Hand, an Android app that helps users learn Auslan.

The Intelicare Ageing in Place AI Platform, a mobile app that provides family members and carers with a non-invasive, real-time view of their loved one’s behaviours, received the NFP iAward. The HealthLAB Time Machine, which shows users how they would age with a healthy lifestyle compared to how they would age with smoking, excessive alcohol or unhealthy eating, was a merit recipient.

Tactile Sensor received the Start-up iAward; the sensor for robots enables intelligent dexterous robotic gripping. Spacedraft was the merit recipient, for a cloud-based web application designed to help users create and share a common mind’s eye understanding of how any space (virtual or physical) can change over time.

Intelicare Smart Home Monitoring received the iAward under the Tech Platform category, with BrykID, Cogniss and Tekuma receiving merits under the same category. The Smart Home Monitoring system uses AI to support seniors and people with disabilities to live safety in their homes.

Imprint, which helps users identify one of the main causes of pain and impairments in sensory processing in the nervous system, received the iAward under the Industry Solutions category, with Castlepoint a merit recipient.

Intelicare Smart Home Monitoring also received the Victorian Government Inspiration Award, while the People’s Choice Award went to identity verification platform BrykID, which enables organisations to manage identity proofing and fraud detection activities.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/stnazkul