'Digital ID wallet' wins Canberra SME innovation award

A prototype app giving Canberra residents the ability to seamlessly access a wide range of local services has secured first place - and a $12,500 cash prize for Canberra’s Imagine Team - at the Canberra Digital Challenge awards.

Imagine Team’s ‘digital ID wallet’ gives users one app instead of myriad cards to access buses, libraries and other government services. The app, called ‘Cardly’, is the brainchild of co-creators Zakaria Bouguettaya and Andrew Clapham. The prototype app incorporates MyWay cards and ACT drivers’ licences but can be extended to include other services. Bouguettaya said he will use the cash prize to further develop the prototype.

“I want to thank NICTA’s eGov Cluster and the ACT Government for backing the Digital Canberra Challenge. The support that this competition is giving to innovative SMEs in Canberra has been fantastic,” said Bouguettaya.

Bouguettaya says he anticipates using the money on extending the concept of Cardly and investing on his other venture, QuicklyPay.it. As for the next steps for Cardly, Bouguettaya is in discussions with government agencies to see how the concept can be rolled out for a private beta, and what would be needed to see it through to reality. The runner-up app came from local start-up company Basement Labs. It aims to streamline information about the Canberra Hospital for patients, visitors and staff. Tim Ainge from Basement Labs has trialled the app in the hospital’s new paediatrics ward. “The value of the app is in providing information in smaller and more relevant ‘chunks’, making it easier for people to consume,” said Ainge.

ACT Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr also launched round three of the challenge. “Through the challenge, we have seen SMEs challenging the status quo and thinking deeply about the issues facing our government. These businesses have been focused on developing the right solutions for these challenges. The Digital Canberra Challenge encourages ACT public servants, and the local community, to get involved in thinking differently about our government and developing new and better ways for us to do business,” said Minister Barr.

Digital Canberra Challenge is an ACT Government initiative to engage Canberra’s brightest minds to help build and support a dynamic, healthy and prosperous Digital City for the 21st century.