Unearthed is returning to Brisbane for the fifth time this July, inviting Queensland’s top
entrepreneurs, innovators and startups to prototype solutions to four resources sector
challenges with real operational data sets provided by Origin Energy and Anglo American.
“Technology and the usefulness of data is increasing at a faster pace than any one company
can keep up with. Hackathons, like our partnership with Unearthed, create a vital link
connecting Origin Energy with new ideas, technologies, opportunities and ultimately
innovation – helping us deliver energy to our customers and communities,” said Origin
Energy General Manager, Strategy Execution Felicity Underhill.
Unearthed Brisbane will take place over 54 hours from 13-15 July 2018, at technology
startup and co-working hub Fishburners in Brisbane CBD. The hackathon will be a true
collaboration between industry and innovators to crowd source unique and impactful
solutions to tough industry challenges, including optimising the human sensor at Origin’s
Eraring Power Station, finding high pressure differentials at CSG wells, automatic data
capture for parallel tasks in underground mining, and monitoring the status of all Anglo
American open cut assets to inform and advise supervisors and dispatchers.
“Anglo American is proud to collaborate with Unearthed and explore innovative approaches
to Anglo American’s real mining challenges. This hackathon will generate new ideas in
automated data capture in underground mining and real-time monitoring to improve asset
deployment in open cut mining. Innovation is a core value at Anglo American and we’re
embracing ideas that challenge our thinking, as part of our FutureSmart MiningTM approach
to deliver a sustainable future,” said Dave Palmer, Head of Technical, Anglo American
Metallurgical Coal.
According to a McKinsey & Company February 2017 report, technological advances will
change supply and demand dynamics in the resource sector, raising productivity, increasing
energy efficiency and unlocking value of between $900 billion and $1.6 trillion to the global
economy by 2035.
“We can build an entire specialisation and diversify the Australian economy around the
technology that it takes to make industry more sustainable and build the next generation of
tech companies on the back of those opportunities,” said Unearthed Founding Director
Justin Strharsky.
Unearthed Brisbane will provide innovators with the opportunity to work closely with Origin
Energy and Anglo American mentors and personnel from across the business over the
weekend, who will offer deep insights into their current operations, challenges and data,
technology gaps, and future vision.
At the end of the weekend, teams will present their final solutions to an esteemed judging
panel and the top teams will walk away with thousands of dollars in prize money, tech
credits and future development opportunities. This includes fast-tracked application for the
Unearthed Accelerator program, which provides selected startups seed funding and access
to experienced industry mentors, amongst other training and facilities, to grow and
commercialise their prototypes into products.
“The skills, funding and industry connections accelerators deliver are allowing technology
startups to take many more shots on goal. We are excited to discover new talent in Brisbane
and look forward to welcoming the 2018 startups to the program later this year,” said
Accelerator General Manager David Camerlengo.
Unearthed believes in the power of entrepreneurship to transform individuals and
communities, to create economic opportunity and to address global challenges.
Since our first hackathon, over 4000 individuals have engaged with Unearthed, forming a
talented and ever-expanding network of innovators across Australia, South Africa, the US,
Canada and South America.
With the support of our resources technology community, we have run 26 hackathons in 14
cities, six online competitions, two accelerator programs and four demo days. Details on the
Unearthed open innovation platform can be found at: https://portal.unearthed.solutions/.
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