$100,000 prize money for Start IT Up WA Challenge

• Opening of entries announced at WA Information Technology and Telecommunications Alliance (WAITTA) INCITE Awards for ICT excellence
• Funding as part of the recently announced $20 million innovation package

Innovation Minister Bill Marmion has announced the opening of the Liberal National Government’s Start IT Up WA Challenge, offering a total of $100,000 in prize money for projects that provide innovative solutions to government problems.

The challenge is one of the first initiatives to be funded from the Government’s $20 million innovation package.

“The Start IT Up WA Challenge is about using local ideas to take the use of government data to the next level, and cut red tape across the Western Australian public sector,” Mr Marmion said.

“The Government will offer $100,000 in prize money to see local ideas make it to market, and ultimately be integrated into the everyday operations of government agencies.”

The Minister made the announcement as part of his opening address to members of the IT and telecommunications industry at last night’s WAITTA INCITE awards ceremony. The projects need to have a viable business plan.

“We know from the many successful hackathons which have already been run in WA that the ICT community is enthusiastic about using government data to solve problems in innovative ways,” Mr Marmion said.

Details on how to enter are available on the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer website.