Armidale’s SimpliMove and Tamworth’s GRO Rural have come away winners from the 2024 Innovate with NBN Grant Program.
Now in its fifth year, the Innovate with program is designed to support regional and remote Australian businesses and aims to recognise and highlight individuals, businesses or organisations that are innovators, champions of digital adoption and advocates of their local communities.
There was a total prize pool of $125,000 – category winners received $15,000 and the overall champion another $20,000. More than 150 entries were submitted nationally for an opportunity to win in seven categories including Health, Education, Agriculture, Tourism, Arts, Women in Regional Business, and Indigenous Business.
The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) is a founding partner of the Innovate with nbn Grants Program.
RAI CEO Liz Ritchie says more than 150 entries were submitted nationally for this year’s program, highlighting the innovation that is occurring in regions right across the country.
“This initiative showcases how, with the right support and tools, regional entrepreneurs can become leaders developing products and initiatives that can benefit people not only across Australia, but across the world,” Ms Ritchie said.
“The Innovate program is a celebration of regional, digital ingenuity and is made possible due to the steadfast partnership the RAI and NBN Co. have created, based on the shared vision of empowering regions to thrive.”
“I congratulate all finalists and winners – you are true regional leaders.”
NBN Chief Development Officer, Regional and Remote Gavin Williams said it has been a privilege to share the stories of program winners over the past five years.
“At nbn, our purpose is to lift the digital capability of Australia, and it’s a purpose we share with all our innovate finalists and winners,” Mr Williams said.
“In 2024, we have again uncovered a plethora of passionate regional innovators from across the country, harnessing the benefits of the NBN network to improve digital participation, productivity and social outcomes.”
The awards were held in Sydney and presented in partnership with the Regional Australia Institute.
The 2024 Innovate with nbn® Grant Program Winners Health – SimpliMove- Armidale
SimpliMove aims to be best in delivering digital health to improve accessibility of healthcare, health outcomes and health literacy for all Australians. It does this by providing accessible, trusted and cost-efficient online treatment with health advice and rehabilitation programs.
SimpliMove is a mobile and web application that offers:
- Primary care allied health physiotherapy treatment and management using telehealth sessions
- Tailored medical exercise and rehabilitation programs adapted to a user’s ability, pain, medical conditions, goals and interests, plus health education with more than100 articles designed to improve health literacy about injury management, chronic disease, and general health and wellbeing.
The SimpliMove project is a research project involving the development and evaluation of a General Practitioner (GP) referral pathway of physiotherapy services using an online health app to:
- Improve accessibility of primary care physiotherapy services to rural populations with chronic diseases and who are middle aged to older.
- support rural GPs by providing accessible and trusted allied-health referral pathways.
Leveraging GP referrals and the SimpliMove digital health platform, they propose to establish a GP referral pathway and streamline processes for patient uptake of the SimpliMove digital platform delivered to populations in the New England area of NSW.
“We now wish to provide evidence that online health services using the SimpliMove app are a viable option particularly in rural and regional Australia where accessing health services can be prohibitive,” said Co-Founder, Deborah Hunter.
“The grant money will help fund our research to provide this evidence and provide a future blueprint for rolling out other online services to create greater accessibility for healthcare to these populations.”
The 2024 Innovate with nbn® Grant Program Winners Health Agriculture – GRO Rural- Tamworth
GRO Rural is a digital platform designed to connect and empower professionals, service providers andbusinesses across Australia’s rural, regional and agricultural sectors.
Offering tailored industry registries, networking opportunities and professional resources, GRO Rural helps rural professionals showcase their expertise, find job opportunities and build strong connections with organisations in need of services.
A key focus of GRO Rural is supporting the dairy industry, where it provides a specialised platform that enhances visibility for dairy professionals and connects them with businesses seeking their expertise.
This initiative contributes to the growth, sustainability and success of the dairy sector, ensuring that skilled professionals are accessible to meet the industry’s evolving needs.
Like what you’re reading? Support The New England Times by making a small contribution today and help us keep delivering local news paywall-free. Support now