20 April 2018
Ignite SA and the South Australian Museum launch South Australia’s first Gigabit Challenge
Ignite SA, a partnership between the State Government and UniSA to support entrepreneurs, developers and start-ups, is working with the South Australian Museum to launch South Australia’s first gigabit challenge to make the state’s extraordinary collection of Aboriginal cultural items accessible to the world.
Supported by the Department for State Development, and the University of South Australia’s Innovation & Collaboration Centre the SA Gigabit Challenge - Preserve - will ask local developers, entrepreneurs, students, hackers, makers and other creative minds to pitch an idea that will give the Museum’s Australian Aboriginal Culture Collection high visibility.
One of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Australian Aboriginal culture in the world, the 30,000 artefacts are of great significance to Aboriginal cultural heritage but due to the sheer size of the collection, the Museum can only display about five per cent at any one time.
The Museum will hold a ‘Reverse Pitch’ event on Wednesday 2nd May, where a panel of industry experts including AusOcean founder and former Engineering Director for Google ANZ, Alan Noble; South Australian Museum board member, Teri Whiting; and Head of Humanities at the South Australian Museum and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Adelaide, Professor John Carty, will provide further information on the collection and how participants might be able to bring it into the digital age.
Alan Noble says the project will give local developers the opportunity to create an application to reach people all over the world.
“This challenge is a great opportunity for students, start-ups and entrepreneurs to use their innovative ideas to develop a prototype with the potential to benefit communities around the globe,” Noble says.
Following the Reverse Pitch, participants will develop their ideas, with finalists shortlisted to present at the digital entertainment and technology event Hybrid World (20-24 July).
The winner will be awarded $20,000 to develop their idea into a functional platform using Adelaide’s Gigabit capabilities, which could potentially be used by other digital humanities collections across the globe, as well as a further $5,000 to attend a global conference to possibly pitch the idea on a global stage.
Ignite SA’s Technology Leader and UniSA’s Deputy Director of ICT Infrastructure, Karl Sellmann says Preserve will allow information to be shared globally.
“This is very timely as South Australia was recently announced as the first international city to join the US Ignite Smart Gigabit Communities program,” Sellmann says.
“This challenge is the first of many that will employ Adelaide’s high speed internet capabilities to enhance the economic, social and community development in South Australia.
“We look forward to seeing some innovative ideas and hope to see something that could be to be used by other industries across the world.”
The Reverse Pitch event will be held in the Pacific Cultures Gallery at the SA Museum on Wednesday 2 May from 10.00am to 1.30pm. Registrations are open to all via Ignite SA’s website.
The Ignite Gigabit Challenge: Preserve is generously sponsored by US Ignite, the University of South Australia, the South Australian Museum, SABRENet, Optus and Cisco.
Ignite SA media contact: Georgia Minarelli email: Georgia.Minarelli@unisa.edu.au phone: 0413 314 726
SA Museum media contact: Andrea Murphy email: Andrea.Murphy@samuseum.sa.gov.au phone: 0475 834 072
