A waste management app that monitors a venue’s waste facilities and provides cleaners real-time updates has taken out first prize at a two-day hackathon hosted by Spotless Group and global startup accelerator network, Startupbootcamp.
Held at the Melbourne Cricket Group on 21 to 22 November, Spotless Hack at the ‘G invited Australian’s creative minds in the tech and startup community to create solutions to real problems.
The aim was to enhance Spotless’ offering across sectors such as food and venue management, facilities and asset maintenance, cleaning, waste management and security.
On Tuesday 22 November, the five most innovative teams were awarded cash and other prizes and granted the opportunity to present their concepts to an audience at the MCG.
A waste management solution was awarded the $10,000 first prize. The ‘My Cleanliness’ app, created by Melbourne-based Make-Create, connects to sensors embedded in a venue’s waste facilities, such as such as bins and toilets, monitoring their status as to how full or dirty they are. This information is then supplied to a smartwatch worn by cleaners.
The event produced several innovative solutions with the potential to become an integral part of how facilities operate in the future. From chat bots that direct patrons to the shortest fast-food line to a GPS-tracking device that allows staff to wirelessly send safety alerts, Spotless Hack at the ‘G produced clever tech that has the potential to become part of the furniture at facilities in the near future.
Julian Fogarty, Spotless’ general manager of brand, innovation, and technology said: “It was fantastic to see Spotless’ first ever IoT [Internet of Things] and DataTech Hackathon in action. It really demonstrated the energy, passion and creative solutions that can be developed in a short time by bringing ‘hackers’, Spotless experts and external mentors together.”
Innovation top of mind for Spotless
The hackathon was part of a refreshed business strategy in which ASX-listed Spotless Group continues to become more active within the startup community and wider innovation ecosystem.
Addressing the audience at the MCG, Spotless CEO Martin Sheppard said: “Spotless has been through a process of strategy reset and right at the top of our agenda is innovation. We’ve got 36,000 people, and if we really want to succeed in business we need to be entrepreneurial, innovative and fast-moving. We have a fundamental issue in Australia in taking a good idea and actually commercialising it. We at Spotless and other corporates in Australia have a responsibility to take the next step from what we’ve done here to actually driving commercial outcomes.”
Fogarty also stated that a core component of the company’s strategy is to enable diverse, entrepreneurial and customer-centric thinking to drive organic growth. By investing in external strategic programs, partnerships and events, Spotless is demonstrating to customers and shareholders its commitment to pioneering industry-leading services.
“We are collaborating with universities, startups, suppliers, research institutions and our customers to develop smart solutions for our customers. Many emerging trends like IoT, are quickly becoming disruptive forces in our industry and for our customers, we want to be at the forefront of developments. From smart beacons to drones to robots, the capability for objects to communicate and interact with each other and with the public has the potential to completely transform the services and experiences we offer our clients,” he said.