December 15, 2014 -- GIS People has once again taken out the competition in Queensland Government’s Open Innovation Challenge, and this time won the opportunity to develop an intelligent data management solution for the Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing (NPRSR).

Earlier this year GIS People won the Pilot Open Innovation Challenge, organised by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in collaboration with Queensland Government, to develop a solution for the Department of Transport and Main Roads’ “graffiti problem”. The solution eventually evolved into a product called Gruntify.

Round two of the Open Innovation Hub took place on the 8th and 9th of December at QUT, and saw 29 shortlisted companies compete across three different categories to provide Queensland government departments with solutions to their “problems worth solving”.

GIS People faced stiff competition in their category, including from major geospatial companies and universities. The objective was to help NRPSR solve the problem – “It is difficult for NPRSR to comprehensively capture, validate and communicate detailed information about activities, infrastructure, features and access within Queensland’s Parks and Forests in a timely and cost effective manner.”

GIS People proposed a solution that leverages the Gruntify platform, which is built on the strengths of the latest mobile, cloud, geospatial and open source technologies. The solution will enable NPRSR to use staff and the public (through “crowdsourcing”) to securely collect and manage vast amounts of asset data or incident reports in real-time, while minimising costs to the department. All incoming data will be mapped in real-time using a highly scalable web-mapping platform.

Due to their attention to detail of NPRSR’s requirements and proven track record with innovative geospatial technology, GIS People was chosen by the judging panel as the category winner. They will now spend the first 12 weeks of 2015 working in close collaboration with NPRSR management to refine and develop the solution further. 

GIS People’s Managing Director, Igor Stjepanovic, says, “We’re thrilled to win another opportunity, and our latest win makes it 2 wins out of 2 attempts for GIS People. Tourism is one of Queensland’s 4 pillars of economy, and NPRSR had no qualms regarding selecting Brisbane based company - GIS People - to help them drive efficiencies and attract more tourists to the State. We look forward to helping Queensland become the world leader in the use of digital and geospatial services to support tourism.”

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