Digital solutions head tech awards

Medical platform HealthEngine and an online analytics system designed to benefit agribusinesses were among the winners at last week’s Western Australian Information Technology and Telecommunications Alliance Incite awards.

SWAN Systems, named startup of the year, operates by processing data in reference to soil type, crop type, stage of life and type of irrigation hardware to notify the user of the right amount of water and timing to apply.

It uses software that processes customised data inputs, including week-long and site-specific weather forecasts, actual irrigated volumes, and soil moisture readings, to potentially save users up to 20 per cent on water use.

Launched in 2015 by Tim Hyde, Ivor Gaylard and Rod Campbell, the founding directors of agtech startup Indicina, the software can be applied to any large-scale irrigator.

The Dr Mal Bryce WA Tech Company of the Year was a new award this year, named after the former WA deputy premier Mal Bryce, who championed the information and communication technology sector for more than 40 years.

The Bryce award was won by HealthEngine, a health appointment and directory website co-founded by clinician Marcus Tan and programmer Adam Yap in 2006, which is used by over 1 million users a month and is the largest health platform in Australia.

Announced on Friday, the award was granted to HealthEngine just days after it was made public that the website was removing and altering customer reviews online.

An investigation by Fairfax found that HealthEngine had altered 53 per cent of 50,000 reviews on its website to some degree.

Other winners included Royal Life Saving Society WA and Diversus, which received the Most Impactful Social Benefit and Most Transformative Business Solution awards.

Diversus assisted RLSSWA in replacing traditional, paper-based fundraising raffles with a modern, digital solution that increased revenue and extended reach for the charity, among other non-profit organisations that benefited from the innovation.

WAITTA said many of the winners across its 12 awards had placed emphasis on digitising and streamlining manual processes for efficiency, healthcare technology, and providing a social benefit to the community.