Hospital navigation system idea wins Spark South West
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8 November 2018
An idea for an internal navigation system for Liverpool Hospital has won $2000 in the first ever Spark South West Startup Weekend
Dane Dobre, Nenad Dobre and Sylvia Astutz formed a team called Medinav and collaborated across three intense days to come up with the idea.
They took out the cash prize, provided by Unite IT Consulting along with a four hour prototyping workshop at Sydney Startup Hub thanks to Jobs for NSW.
Mr Dobre said the prize money would go straight back into bringing his team’s idea to fruition.
“As a startup, it's always a challenge to survive in the early years so any funding or prizes do help,” he said.
“It has been refreshing to see regular events for startups in South West Sydney and we hope to network and grow our team with local talent over the next 12 months.”
Four teams spent 48 hours, from 26 to 28 October, working on ways to make Liverpool more liveable, responding to problems presented by local organisations.
The Medinav team came up with an internal navigation system to provide non-English speaking patients and their families a way to navigate their way around the hospital.
They were able to use an autonomous fitness solution called “Gymsym” they had developed previously.
“We already knew the technology works as we built the gym of the future with Western Sydney University, but it was a challenge to adapt our solution to the specific problems identified by Liverpool Hospital in only three short days,” Mr Dobre said.
“It meant a weekend of sleepless nights all whilst maintaining focus on delivering a solution that our team can realistically implement over the next six to 12 months.”
Liverpool Mayor Wendy Waller congratulated all participants at Spark South West.
“It was wonderful to have so much creative energy focused on making Liverpool a more liveable place,” Mayor Waller said.
“This was the first time Spark Festival included an event in Liverpool and we hope Spark South West goes from strength to strength in coming years.
“This is just one of many ways Liverpool City Council supports startups and small businesses in Liverpool.”
Liverpool City Council and Vibewire partnered with Unit IT Consulting, Jobs for NSW, Regional Development Australia, Vesuvio, University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University and the Western Sydney Business Centre to deliver this event.