{"id":38437,"date":"2023-10-20T14:56:30","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/google-awards-over-5-million-to-australian-non-profits-tackling-critical-social-problems-with-technology-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:56:30","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:56:30","slug":"google-awards-over-5-million-to-australian-non-profits-tackling-critical-social-problems-with-technology-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/google-awards-over-5-million-to-australian-non-profits-tackling-critical-social-problems-with-technology-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Google awards over $5 million to Australian non-profits tackling critical social problems with technology – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Google<\/div>\n

Google has granted 10 Australian non-profit organisations over $5 million for their innovative use of technology to save human lives and the planet.<\/p>\n

At the Google Impact Challenge held in Sydney, the George Institute for Global Health, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Hello Sunday Morning won $750,000 each for critical health management solutions.<\/p>\n

Dr Clara Chow from the George Institute for Global Health was awarded for her project TEXTCARE, an SMS-based service for people with chronic disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a highly personalised support service to help patients change their lifestyles and hopefully take their treatment,\u201d Chow tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chow says many of these patients struggle to find the right information about their health problems and fail to fully understand how treatment and lifestyle choices can affect them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to give personalised support, customising information on patient characteristics,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The aim is for TEXTCARE to be able to solve this. And with one in two Australians living with chronic disease, Chow says the judges saw how important this service is\u00a0for the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could see the potential, they could see the need,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

With the funding grant and support from a tech leader like Google, Chow is positive her team will be able to really commercialise and scale TEXTCARE so it gets into the hands of those who need it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to get to 100,000 patients with chronic disease,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to achieve it within 24 months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hello Sunday Morning general manager Jamie Moore says their app combines information, data and experience they’ve gathered over nearly seven years with 100,000 clients.<\/p>\n

Using these insights, the Daybreak\u00a0app is being designed to actively help people change the way they drink.<\/p>\n

The comprehensive app will let users access\u00a0things like cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing, peer support and\u00a0a secure messaging chatline.<\/p>\n

“The money from Google is specifically for machine learning and reinforcing the social networking part,”\u00a0Moore tells\u00a0StartupSmart.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

These developments will mean users of the app can get personalised information and curated stories that match where they are at in their recovery and help keep them on track.<\/p>\n

The winners were chosen by a judging panel comprising philanthropists Lucy Turnbull and David Gonski, as well as CSIRO chief executive Dr Larry Marshall, professional athlete Layne Beachley, who created the Aim For the Stars Foundation, Google.org director Jacqueline Fuller, Google executive Alan Noble and television reporter Melissa Doyle.<\/p>\n

The public was also invited to vote in a people\u2019s choice award that saw more than 250,000 Australians vote.<\/p>\n

Because the voting was so close, both the Nature Conservancy Australia and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation won $750,000 grants.<\/p>\n

The remaining finalists didn\u2019t leave empty-handed with Google awarding them $250,000 each.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all impressed with each other\u2019s ideas,\u201d says Chow.<\/p>\n

The innovative ideas\u00a0coming to life<\/h3>\n