Alimetry Leaves Stealth Mode to Announce CE Mark on New Wearable Medical Device for Gastric Diseases and Investment
- : Alimetry Ltd
- : 16/04/2021
Alimetry, a digital healthcare and diagnostic devices start-up, announced today that it has achieved CE Mark for its first product, a pioneering medical device for enabling diagnosis of gastric diseases.
The new wearable product, called Gastric Alimetry, is positioned to transform the diagnostic pathway for millions of patients worldwide suffering from diseases such as functional dyspepsia, gastroparesis and chronic nausea and vomiting. Gastric symptoms are extremely prevalent and impart a vast burden, affecting around 10% of the global population. The Gastric Alimetry device collects data by non-invasively sensing the activity of the stomach from the body surface. The data is sent to the cloud for analysis, and is used by clinicians to determine the causes of gastric symptoms and direct treatment.
Co-Founder and CEO Professor Greg O’Grady said “As clinicians, we lack the tools we need to reliably diagnose gastric disorders. This contributes greatly to the frustration and suffering of our patients. I was driven to this cause by seeing too many patients go through laborious, invasive and expensive rounds of repeat diagnostic testing, only to end up with inconclusive results and confusion. We invented Gastric Alimetry to help address this need. I am immensely proud of our hard-working team who have delivered an incredibly creative solution with outstanding potential to impact patient care.”
In addition to successfully achieving CE mark for the Gastric Alimetry product, enabling the company to start commercializing the medical device in European countries, Alimetry also announced today that it had achieved the ISO 13485 international quality management system accreditation. As it grows global operations, the company has enhanced its executive team with new appointments. Hanie Yee joined the company as Chief Operating Officer, from her previous role as Clinical Business Lead at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, and Professor Chris Andrews, a leading gastroenterologist from Canada, has joined Alimetry as Chief Medical Officer.
Alimetry has been the culmination of over a decade of award-winning scientific research out of The University of Auckland, backed by scientific grants from the New Zealand Health Research Council and the US National Institutes of Health, followed by Callaghan Innovation funding. To support the next phase of growth, the company completed its first institutional investment round, led by IP Group, a leading international intellectual property commercialisation company. The investment round was supported by UniServices Ltd (via the University of Auckland’s Inventors’ Fund), and Matū, a New Zealand early-stage science and deep-tech venture capital fund. The capital raised by Alimetry will be used to advance the company’s clinical trials, enter the market, and progress regulatory approval in the United States.
The Managing Director of IP Group Australia, Dr Michael Molinari, said “We are excited to be working with Professor O’Grady and the world-class team at Alimetry to provide a step change in the quality of life for millions of patients with gastric disorders. This technology, at the intersection of multiple exponentially growing fields such as wearable medical devices, digital health, and machine-learning assisted diagnostics, is another great example of the breakthrough innovations coming from our partners at the University of Auckland”.
About Alimetry
Alimetry was founded in 2019 as a spin-out company from the University of Auckland’s Bioengineering Institute and Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. The company was founded on a background of world-leading science in gastrointestinal diseases. Alimetry is dedicated to improving the lives of patients by delivering innovative medical solutions to advance GI diagnostics and enable targeted therapies. www.alimetry.com
About IP Group
IP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company focused on evolving great ideas from its partner universities into world-changing businesses. The Group pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital, scientific insight, and the supporting infrastructure. In Australia and New Zealand, IP Group works in close partnership with the Go8 Universities and the University of Auckland to identify ground-breaking technologies, rooted in hard science, which have the most promising commercial potential. IP Group, which is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol IPO, has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology.
Discover more at www.ipgroupanz.com
About The University of Auckland Inventors’ Fund. The University of Auckland Inventors Fund is an evergreen, open-ended $20 million investment fund owned and managed by Auckland UniServices Limited, the commercial company for The University of Auckland. The Inventors’ Fund provides seed-capital for ventures started out of the University of Auckland. www.uniservices.co.nz
About Matū Fund. Matū is a venture capital fund investing in early-stage science and deep technology commercialisation from education and research institutions and the private sector. As an open and evergreen fund, Matū takes a long-term investment view and is aimed at turning ground-breaking ideas into globally focused, IP-rich companies. Matū provides intelligent capital with active governance, executive management, operational support, and mentorship for founding and executive teams. www.matu.co.nz
Released images (png format):
Contact Information:
Hanie Yee, Chief Operating Officer
M: +64 (0) 21 651 226
Social Media:
Twitter: @alimetry_ltd
- Alimetry_Reader_Light
- : Hanie Yee
- : Chief Operating Officer
- : hanie@alimetry.com
- : 6421651226
- : https://alimetry.com/
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/alimetry-ltd/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true
DEEPENING STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN UBC AND PIONEERING DECENTRALISED PLATFORM, MANYONE
- : Manyone
- : 15/04/2021
Vancouver, Canada – April 15th, 2021 – Manyone, a pioneering technology venture in decentralization and digital identity, is delighted to announce that 2021 marks the second year of the strategic collaboration between Manyone and The Peer Social Foundation and the Blockchain@UBC research cluster at the University of British Columbia.
This academic-industry partnership is one of the first to critically assess the feasibility of decentralized social media, explore engineering possibilities and configure the privacy and security implications of self-ownership of social media data.
Blockchain@UBC Graduate researchers gain research opportunities at Manyone and The Peer Social Foundation by applying for grants from MITACS (Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex System), a Canadian non-profit research organization that fosters cross-sector collaboration and develops talents for the innovation ecosystem in Canada.
In the next year, UBC researchers will identify technical requirements for decentralized identities, design new system architecture, and explore the value and business models for blockchain-based identity management.
Chang Lu, Research Manager at Blockchain@UBC states that, “Manyone and The Peer Social Foundation offer an inspiring space for our students to sharpen their knowledge about blockchain. Their vision of decentralized social media represents a paradigm shift in the world of social networks. We are grateful that we can contribute to the shift”.
Michael Cholod CEO at Manyone and The Peer Social Foundation comments, “As a Vancouver based pioneering enterprise, we value the opportunity to work with academics and researchers in Canada to identify the social and organizational impact of decentralized identity and determine the privacy and security implications of self-ownership of social media data. The academics at UBC help us in understanding the bigger picture and how to look for real world solutions.”
Dr. Victoria Lemieux, Blockchain@UBC Co-Lead and Associate Professor at UBC’s School of Information, further adds that, “We’re excited to delve further into both the technological and policy ramifications of Manyone’s vision of securing digital data free from manipulation or distortion and to support technical and social innovation in Canada”.
Manyone, with offices in Vancouver, Canada and Stockholm, Sweden is launching the world’s first decentralised secure messaging and identity sharing platform in April 2021.
- : https://vimeo.com/497354494/e980b7ee5e
- : https://www.buzzsprout.com/995260/8076641-hot-topix-facebook-falling-down-under
- : MICHAEL CHOLOD
- : CEO
- : INFO@MANYONE.LONE
- : 16048361112
- : https://manyone.one
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/manyoneapp/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true
PIONEERING DECENTRALISED SECURE MESSAGING PLATFORM MANYONE ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP WITH UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON CENTRE BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY
- : Manyone Inc.
- : 25/02/2021
Vancouver, Canada – February 25th, 2021 – Manyone Inc., a pioneering technology venture in decentralization and digital identity, is delighted to announce that it has entered into a new strategic relationship with the globally renowned University College London (UCL) Centre Blockchain Technology (CBT).
This partnership will support research conducted by UCL CBT’s Senior Research Associate, Dr Geoffrey Goodell, to explore and evaluate end-user technology systems, infrastructure, business imperatives, and regulatory policy to support the privacy, dignity, and market power of individual persons in the emerging digital economy. The research is aimed at identifying the requirements and approaches for systems whose features specifically support the advancement of truly consensual trust relationships, the empowerment of local communities, and the public interest.
Vancouver-based Manyone believes in empowering solutions and technologies with the potential to produce a new, distributed internet where everyone can feel safe, secure and in control of their digital identity.
Dr Paolo Tasca, Founder and Executive Director of the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, notes that, “On behalf of UCL and the Centre for Blockchain Technologies, I am delighted to begin our new partnership with international industry partners Peer Social Foundation and Manyone. We are grateful for their support and recognition of the impactful research being done to meet our shared ambitions. Thanks to their generosity we will continue our proud tradition of enabling academic research with real-world application.”
Michael Cholod CEO at Manyone and Executive Director of The Peer Social Foundation comments, “As a dedicated group of decentralists, our teams look to find ways to free communication from manipulation and control by protecting individual, business or governmental digital identities. Part of that mission is to work with the most respected and knowledgeable people in the field. The team at UCL represent some of the best thinkers in the area and we’re honoured to work with them.”
Dr Geoffrey Goodell, Senior Research Associate at UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, specifically ads that, “The funding from The Peer Social Foundation and Manyone will provide vital resource to explore and evaluate user-controlled identity management, decentralised social networks, and tokenisation as vehicle for authorisation without identification. Our partnership will support the advancement of trusted relationships in the digital economy, the empowerment of local communities for the benefit of public interest. I am excited to deepen our collaboration and share our insights.”
Manyone, with offices in Vancouver, Canada and Stockholm, Sweden are looking to launch the first decentralised secure messaging solution by Mid-2021.
——————————–
Manyone is a pioneering technology venture that aims to deliver private secure networks and private digital identities, to increase personal and enterprise productivity and digital security. Manyone actively works with The Peer Social Foundation on education and research into topics of interest to consumers and enterprise. The Peer Social Foundation and Manyone believe in empowering a distributed internet where everyone can feel in control of their digital identity. They do this by delivering a self-sovereign digital identity and decentralized communication and sharing platform for enterprise and consumers. A critical component of this is to work beside and support vital education, R&D and the open-source community to connect people, business.
Find out more here: www.manyone.one http://blockchain.cs.ucl.ac.uk/
- : Michael Cholod
- : Chief Executive Decentralist
- : info@manyone.one
- : 16048361112
- : https://manyone.one
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/manyoneapp/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true
Entrepreneur challenges business owners to help save the environment
- : Paste & Publish
- : 24/02/2021
Paste & Publish, a New Zealand based content marketing agency announced today that they are setting aside 5% of revenue to provide pro bono work to selected environmental projects that wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford professional help.
Paste & Publish Founder, Callum Armstrong, says that this commitment is important because our natural world is in a state of crisis.
“I believe that it is our responsibility as business owners to help create the future we want to leave for our children.
There’s no silver bullet in the fight against climate change, but every little bit of help makes a difference,” says Armstrong.
“That’s why we have built philanthropy into our business model – to ensure that as we grow, so does our positive impact on the planet.”
The first project that will receive support from their 5% pledge is The Reforestation Fund. This fund, which is set to launch later in the year, provides sustainable and ethical brands with a way to help the environment as part of their offering.
Companies who support The Reforestation Fund donate a small amount from every sale on selected products, and are allowed to display the fund’s endorsement in return. Money raised is used to help community projects that plant native forests and support groups that look after our native plants and wildlife.
The Reforestation Fund co-founder, Anna Wentsch, says that people are looking for ways to support the environment, and that the services provided by Paste & Publish will empower TRF to make it easy for people to do just that.
“We are extremely grateful for the support that Paste & Publish is providing by designing our brand identity and rebuilding our website.
This will set up the foundations for us to connect people and companies with our natural world,” says Wentsch.
Armstrong says that companies who design philanthropy into their everyday operations experience a wide range of benefits. They often see higher rates of customer retention and trust, happier staff who know they are doing good in the world, increased sales and less reliance on price based competition.
About Paste & Publish
Based in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, Paste & Publish provides content marketing services to companies that want to grow. They help brands to attract their ideal customers by creating high value strategic content, and using sales funnels to convert them into paying clients. To find out more, visit www.pasteandpublish.com.
- IMG_5840_enhanced
- : Callum Armstrong
- : Managing Director
- : callum@pasteandpublish.com
- : 642102671022
- : https://www.pasteandpublish.com
- https://www.facebook.com/pasteandpublish | https://www.instagram.com/pasteandpublish | https://www.linkedin.com/company/71003381
Exciting New Zealand-Based Freelance Website Answers Roaring Freelance Economy
- : Skill Connect
- : 05/02/2021
SkillConnect connects businesses and freelancers in an erupting remote work environment
New Zealand, (February 5, 2021) — SkillConnect is an exciting new freelance website that was created to answer the incredible demand for remote work opportunities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the website is operated in New Zealand, it presents businesses and freelancers with an opportunity to work with each other from virtually anywhere around the world. Account registration is free for both businesses and freelancers.
Officially launched in late 2020, SkillConnect was built from the ground-up as an innovative freelancer platform that is easy to use for both businesses and freelancers.
The site actively evolves and adapts to changes in demand, services, and feedback from its users. As the site continues to grow, more features will be added to better serve its users.
The hiring process for a freelancer is notably simple, and can be broken down into four steps:
- Post a job or project
- Connect with freelancers
- Chat and share files
- Pay only after the project is completed or upon mutual agreement
With the demand for freelance work on the rise, SkillConnect seeks to supply the demand for freelancers, both in New Zealand and abroad, “More people than ever are looking for opportunities to use their skills to make money online,” says the founder of SkillConnect, Sathya Parlapothula.
“There is also a huge demand for freelance work, particularly from small businesses who want more economical options to hiring full-time employees. The fit and the opportunity were both there to make this successful,” Sathya Parlapothula says.
About SkillConnect
SkillConnect is a New Zealand-based online freelancing site that connects businesses and freelancers all around the world. It was launched in November 2020 and continues to see a growing number of registered freelancers and businesses.
For more about SkillConnect, visit:
www.skillconnect.co.nz
For more information, please contact:Name: Sathya Parlapothula
Email: hello@skillconnect.co.nz
- Skill Connect Press Release 05 Feb 2021
- : https://youtu.be/iPDNZC-AaqI
- : Sathya Parlapothula
- : CEO
- : hello@recruit.nz
- : 043901205
- https://www.facebook.com/skillconnectnz | https://twitter.com/SkillConnect1 | https://www.instagram.com/skillconnectnz/
New Zealand’s Newest Online Job Portal Goes Live
- : Recruit
- : 01/12/2020
Recruit.nz launches innovative employment site that connects local job seekers and employers
New Zealand, (December 01, 2020) — Recruit.nz, New Zealand’s newest and most innovative online job portal has just launched and is already connecting job seekers and employers.
What makes Recruit.nz attractive is It is smarter, easier and affordable for everyone to use for both job seekers and employers. Recruit.nz set out to deliver a premium service that is accessible to job seekers and businesses of all sizes.
Premium features come standard for employers on the site.
These features include:
- Custom hiring teams, where an employer can create approval systems to evaluate applicants.
- An integrated To-Do List, which is an innovative feature where your hiring team can keep track of the team’s tasks and recruitment operations all within the site.
Supporting local businesses in an atypical way is one of Recruit’s goals, “We wanted a way to support people who were looking for jobs, and also the businesses that were hiring them,” says Recruit’s founder, Sathya Parlapothula.
“By giving local businesses a site where they can post their jobs for free, and take advantage of enhanced features like custom branding, manage hiring teams & applicant management tools if they so choose, we feel we are able to help our economy move forward from what was a very difficult year for many,” says Sathya Parlapothula.
About Recruit.nz
Recruit.nz is an all-inclusive online job portal based in New Zealand that launched in November 2020. They believe in working smarter, not harder. That’s why they created a portal like no other. No matter if you are looking for a job or looking to fill a job, they help make the process easier and faster than any other local job site around.
- : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUDM1nDTf1A
- : Sathya Parlapothula
- : CEO
- : sathya@recruit.nz
- : 043901205
- : https://www.recruit.nz/
- https://www.facebook.com/Recruit-New-Zealand-115590076985758 | https://www.linkedin.com/company/recruit-new-zealand
‘Kiwi invasion’ – Flintfox wins big on global stage with Microsoft.
- : Flintfox International
- : 28/07/2020
Flintfox honoured by Microsoft for outstanding sales achievement and innovation.
(Auckland, New Zealand, July 28, 2020) – Flintfox International, a disruptive innovator in pricing and rebate management and Gold Microsoft partner in the development and implementation of Supply chain solutions , are honoured to receive the 2020 MSUS Partner Award for Retail.
Flintfox is also proud to have achieved prestigious 2020/2021 Inner Circle status. Membership in this elite group is based on sales achievements that rank Flintfox in the top echelon of the Microsoft Business Applications global network of partners. Inner Circle members have performed to a high standard of excellence by delivering valuable solutions that help organisations achieve increased success. For the 4th time, Flintfox has been selected out of thousands of partners for this elite membership.
“Each year we recognise Microsoft Business Applications partners from around the world for delivering innovation and driving unsurpassed customer success,” said Cecilia Flombaum, Microsoft Business Applications Ecosystem Lead. “Our Inner Circle members are chosen based on their business performance as well as capabilities as an organisation, whether that’s creating IP, developing solutions, or having an industry leading focus on digital transformation. Microsoft is honoured to recognise Flintfox for their achievements this past year, their dedication to our customers, and their innovation around the Microsoft Cloud.”
2020/2021 Inner Circle members are invited to the Inner Circle Virtual Summits, taking place quarterly between July 2020 and June 2021, where they will have a unique opportunity to share strategy and network with Microsoft senior leaders and fellow partners.
The Microsoft US (MSUS) Award program was developed to recognise outstanding achievement by their US partners. Flintfox was up against a competitive nomination pool and rose to the top amongst hundreds of other partners and ISV’s.
Flintfox, with their best of breed solutions for managing supply chain revenue, together with Microsoft, enable companies to achieve more in the US and beyond. With Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management and the Flintfox pricing and rebate management solution, there has never been such a complete and powerful tool available for Supply Chain companies. Flintfox are proud to have had their achievements recognised by Microsoft.
Many clients have trusted Flintfox to implement Dynamics 365 along with their Revenue Management suite of products.
“Supply chains are complex these days and managing pricing and incentives accurately for companies can be the difference between profit and loss. With Microsoft’s commitment to ERP innovation, breadth of functionality, and ease of use, Flintfox complex pricing and rebate management provides a true competitive advantage. With our Dynamics 365 offerings and our deep domain expertise along with our revenue management software, we are not just competing, we are winning. To be selected as a top partner for the prestigious Inner Circle Award is another indicator of the success of Flintfox in sales and innovative, industry-leading supply chain software.
We are proud that our outstanding achievements globally have been recognised by Microsoft US. All the more extraordinary is the size and scale of North America and thinking back to our humble beginnings in New Zealand. This is a fantastic reflection of the leading Dynamics implementation expertise we have in North America and is a great testament to our company as we continue to grow in scale and influence. Looking forward to achieving even more wins with Flintfox and Microsoft – we make an incredible team.” says Flintfox CEO and Chairman, Mike Ridgway.
Flintfox has over 15 years of leading collaborations with Microsoft as an ISV, resulting in dozens of happy Dynamics AX and Dynamics 365 ERP clients getting the solutions they need to succeed and grow. As well as bringing extended functionality to D365, Flintfox has recently developed the RMx hyper-speed pricing engine in the Azure cloud, that works with any ERP, to complement the Trade Revenue Management (TRM) Suite for Dynamics. RMx delivers 5,000 complex prices calculated per second in Azure. There is currently no other solution like it in the world.
-ENDS-
About Flintfox
Flintfox provides best of breed Trade Revenue Management (TRM) solutions for resolving revenue challenges across the supply chain. They have over 30 years of expertise delivering TRM solutions to over 125,000 users across 25 countries within the manufacturing, wholesale distribution and retail industries. Their TRM software, for both buy and sell-side operations, integrates with any ERP and enables accurate, real-time calculations for complex revenue activities including price management, promotions pricing, rebate management, claims and deductions. As a Microsoft Gold Partner, Inner Circle Member and one of only 10 software developers managed globally, Flintfox also provides consulting and implementation services for Microsoft Dynamics applications. Flintfox operates across North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific, with headquarters located in New Zealand.
- : Chris Spence
- : Chief Marketing Officer
- : cspence@flintfox.com
- : 6421899595
- : https://flintfox.com
- https://www.linkedin.com/company/flintfox/ | https://twitter.com/FlintfoxIntl | https://www.facebook.com/flintfoxintl/
Precision Driven Health announces sponsorship of Hack Aotearoa 2020
- : Precision Driven Health
- : 09/01/2020
Precision Driven Health (PDH) is excited to return in 2020 as a major partner for Hack Aotearoa.
Building on the success of the 2019 conference – the first of its kind in New Zealand – Hack Aotearoa 2020 continues to innovate and will include a health datathon in addition to the main Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare conference.
This globally recognised Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Critical Data event aims to spark cross-disciplinary collaboration and learning of data science to improve healthcare. Hosted by the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Critical Data, the event will see local and international data scientists, academics and healthcare professionals come together to present opportunities for the use of data science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health.
The overarching theme for the 2020 event is ‘Advancing the Quadruple Aim’, while the ethical use of data, and the use of data for Māori health equity, are key event themes. Hack Aotearoa is an exciting opportunity to advance the digital health and data science landscape in Aotearoa.
During the datathon, healthcare professionals and data scientists will have the chance to work with the MIT eICU Collaborative Care and MIMIC Critical Care datasets. The aim is to harness insights from these datasets and search for better ways to diagnose and treat critical care patients.
Precision Driven Health returns as a major partner for the second year running. Chief Executive Dr Kevin Ross is looking forward to the event.
“As New Zealand’s premier health data science collaboration, we are looking forward to another gathering that looks to unlock the value of data for our population. Hack Aotearoa combines local expertise and values with international know-how to bring a unique, hands-on experience over a few days,” says Dr Ross.
Philips ANZ is another major partner of Hack Aotearoa. As a leading health technology company, Philips ANZ provides connected care solutions powered by advanced analytics in order to improve health outcomes and the delivery of care. At the crux of transitioning towards value-based healthcare, the measurement of system-wide health outcomes and the improvement of patient care delivery is based on a combination of multiple datasets.
“As the owner of the largest translational ICU dataset in the world composed of 7.5 million ICU episodes, Philips is proud to contribute to events like Hack Aotearoa in order to drive academic and practical insights for New Zealand. We need to look at new, more efficient ways to increase access to care and improve care collaboration. Philips believes Hack Aotearoa is a great setting to start those conversations,” says Joe Cain, Business Manager Population Health, Philips ANZ.
Hack Aotearoa will take place 17th to 19th January 2020 at the Owen G Glenn Building, University of Auckland.
About MIT Critical Data
MIT Critical Data is an affiliation of research labs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who are engaged in research in and around data that has a critical impact on people’s health.About Precision Driven Health
The Precision Driven Health partnership (PDH), established in 2016, is one of the most ambitious data science research initiatives to be undertaken in New Zealand. The partnership unites the health IT sector with healthcare providers and universities to create health and commercial opportunities for New Zealanders. Research is focused on applying new data science techniques to understand the massive volume of data about an individual captured by health information systems, consumer devices, social networks, genetic testing and other sources. To date, PDH has supported more than 75 projects in health data science, including summer and postgraduate scholarships, a joint PDH-HRC Postdoctoral Fellowship scheme, and multi-million dollar discovery and transformation programmes in several areas, including de-identification and deep learning. PDH researchers are also exploring vital concepts such as bias in machine learning, the ethics of AI use, and consent paradigms for enabling the next wave of health data research. Find out more at www.precisiondrivenhealth.com.- : Nicole Gray
- : Communications Specialist
- : nicole@precisiondrivenhealth.com
- : 0212290811
- : https://precisiondrivenhealth.com/
- https://twitter.com/HealthPrecision | https://www.linkedin.com/company/15212839/
Regional and Rural Schools take out National Digital Titles
- : IT Professionals NZ
- : 08/12/2019
Smaller regional and rural schools from across New Zealand swept the National Finals for the Tahi Rua Toru Tech in-school challenge this year.
The 2019 National Winners were announced at a gala event at TSB Arena in Wellington, following 10 regional finals held across New Zealand in October. The National Finals were attended by the regional winning teams with students coming from around the country.
As part of the Tahi Rua Toru Tech Challenge, teams of 3-4 students find a problem in their local school or community and use digital technologies to solve it. Teams are paired up with tech industry mentors and given support and resources. Over 6500 students participated in the Challenge this year.
IT Professionals New Zealand CEO Paul Matthews said today that “Regional and Rural New Zealand were the winners this year, with winning teams coming from Hāwea Flat near Wanaka, Morrinsville, Rotorua and New Plymouth”.
At the Discovery level (years 0-5), Hāwea Flat School’s Team Happy Hawea took out the title, completing a set of challenges in the fastest time. It came down to split-seconds in the end and was hotly contested.
Morrinsville Intermediate’s Team Thunderbolts took out the First Challenge (years 6-8), creating an app game to encourage fitness by getting the user to move around Morrinsville to scan QR codes whilst seeing the ‘Herd of Cows’ (sculptures) on display within their town.
John Paul College, Rotorua’s Team ShumbaLeon won the Secondary level (years 9-10), created a website showcasing cultural diversity in their school and a platform for students to share their own stories and culture with other students.
And Sacred Heart Girls College, New Plymouth’s Team Red took out Senior Secondary (years 11-13), creating a medication box that sends bluetooth messages to your phone to remind you to take your medication, and has a motion sensor and lock and software designed to reduce under or overdosing.
The Ministry of Education’s Deputy Secretary for Early Learning and Student Achievement Ellen MacGregor-Reid helped announce the winners and was seriously impressed by the level of innovation. “A huge scale of learning has clearly gone on in the challenge. The majority of the students didn’t know how to write any code at the start – and yet that was such a stand-out feature of the innovations I’ve seen,” MacGregor-Reid said.
As part of the National Finals, the Digital Technologies Teachers Aotearoa (DTTA) and IT Professionals New Zealand recognised an influential teacher who has made a huge difference to digital tech. This year the Ali Chivers Teacher Influence Award went to Julie MacMahon from St Hilda’s Collegiate School in Dunedin.
“I’ve known Julie for several years, working with her on bringing about the changes to the Digital Technologies curriculum. She’s an inspiring and energetic teacher who contributes so much to her students and their profession,” Matthews said. “A very worthy choice.”
The Challenge will enter its third year in 2020 and is part of a suite of resources and tools to help teachers and schools implement changes to Digital Technologies and Hangarau Matihiko in the Curriculum in a safe and supported way.
ENDS
About Tahi Rua Toru Tech
Partnering with the Ministry of Education, the IT industry is supporting the introduction of the new Digital Technologies & Hangarau Matihiko (DT&HM) curriculum into schools and Kura with the 123Tech Challenge.
In the challenge, small teams of 3-4 students complete a project-based challenge either in-class in schools, or through a local Code Club. Most will complete it as a classroom activity, but the model caters to both. The 123Tech Challenge is for everyone, not just tech geniuses (although they’re welcome too!). Schools are also partnered with an industry mentor, and the Challenge provides all the guidance and support students need to make a real difference.
Tahi Rua Toru Tech is being delivered by a partnership of not-for profit organisations led by IT Professionals NZ and started in its current form in 2018.
The National Finals were held on Thursday 5th December 2019.
To learn more about Tahi Rua Toru Tech visit https://123tech.nz
To learn more about Digital Tech/Hangarau Matihiko, http://education.govt.nz/digitech.
- All
- : Paul Matthews
- : Chief Executive
- : ceo@itp.nz
- : 021705212
- : https://itp.nz
- https://www.facebook.com/123tech.nz/ | https://twitter.com/123tech_nz | https://www.instagram.com/123tech.nz/
Government’s proposed Landfill Levy increase will have no impact on plastic waste
- : plastic2parliament
- : 28/11/2019
This week the Government announced a long awaited and welcome proposal to increase the landfill levy in order to encourage behaviour change away from dumping to more recovery, recycling and reuse. However, the increased levy will have no effect on the volumes of plastic waste entering the economy, our landfills and the environment, according to plastic2parliament.
“Currently plastics account for around 8% of total waste by weight, but as much as 20% of landfill by volume and that’s an enormous proportion of the waste problem.” said Wade Bishop, initiator of the plastic2parliament letter writing initiative. (Ref. Recycle.co.nz)
“With the landfill levy based on weight there’s no incentive in this to move away from plastic packaging or other avoidable plastics that end up in our landfills and environment.” Wade Bishop said.
Plastic2parliament is encouraging New Zealanders to ask all political parties what their plastic reduction policies are by penning letters to MPs in Parliament, via the Parliamentary free-post address while also stuffing their large envelopes full of non-recyclable plastics to illustrate the plastic waste problem.
“We are asking political parties and Government to focus regulation on the producers of plastic packaging targeted at simply making less of it.” said Bishop.
The global oil industry is currently investing US$180 billion in new plastic production plants to increase production by 40% in the next 10 years. This immense supply-pressure will create a further explosion in plastic volumes here in New Zealand and the increased landfill levy will have zero effect on that. This is an over-production issue that needs urgent regulation where the problem starts: the producers.” he said.
The Plastic2parliament initiative believes that an immediate impact can be made on plastic waste by extending bans across wide categories of avoidable single-use plastics, such as cutlery, dishes, cups, takeaway containers and even bubble and pallet wraps.
The initiative also advocates a Plastic Tax on imported virgin plastics used to manufacture single-use packaging and on imported new plastic packaging.
“While the landfill levy will have a negligible effect on the cost of dumping plastic packaging for New Zealanders, it still gets under your skin having to pay even more to get rid of a toxic waste that you didn’t ask for in the first place.” Wade Bishop said.
Plastic2parliament continues to grow quickly with membership numbers of the Facebook Group reaching more than 1000 people sending more than 720 letters and plastic parcels to MPs since beginning in early October this year, including another 90 to Minister for the Environment, David Parker, this week.
ABOUT PLASTIC2PARLIAMENT
Plastic2parliament is a letter-writing initiative started by Wade Bishop of Christchurch which encourages New Zealanders concerned about single-use plastics to include these products with their letters to M.P.s using the Parliamentary Free-post address. The purpose of the initiative is to creatively emphasise how these non-recyclable products cannot be avoided by consumers and that the actual cause of plastic waste is over-production and use by manufacturers. We seek to have M.P.s advocate for meaningful plastic waste reduction policy within their respective Party focused on packaging producers.
Oil companies are investing US$180 billion right now to increase virgin plastic production by 40% before 2030. This enormous supply pressure has already created an explosion in single-use packaging globally. New Zealand will not be immune to these supply pressures and is poorly placed to deal with the waste volumes that will eventuate. (Ref. theguardian.com; and sciencemag.org)
- plastic2parliament_mailing David Parker
- : Wade Bishop
- : Initiator
- : plastic2parliament@gmail.com
- : 021432045
- : https://www.facebook.com/groups/plastic2parliament
- Twitter: @plastic2parlia1 | Facebook: @plastic2parliament
