Ideas ranging from a Covid-19 track and trace system, to an online marketplace, and an app with up-to-the minute football and cricket stats, standings and results, were among the winners at this year’s TechAwards.

Bermudians are welcome to celebrate the organisations and individuals who came up with the most innovative technology, and hear what they have to say, when the 2020 TechAwards is shown online today as part of the Bermuda Development Agency’s Bermuda Virtual Tech Summit 2020. The awards ceremony will be online between 1.30pm and 2pm.

Registration is free by visiting https://www.bda.bm/events/bermuda-virtual-tech-summit-2020-accelerated-transformation/

David Burt, the Premier, said the 13th Technology Innovation Awards recognised “outstanding achievements being made in information technology by Bermuda residents and Bermuda-based organisations”.

Award winners and runners-up were:

The Innovation of the Year – International Market award went to Ed Broking (Bermuda) Ltd for TradEd. This was launched exclusively in Bermuda in April as the first electronic trading application for complex property insurance and reinsurance placements. The application was based on up to 700 structured data items enabling carriers to view submissions, make queries, edit deal documents while simultaneously close deals on the same online platform. Chris Bonard, CEO Ed Bermuda, and Jonathan Prinn, of BGC Partners, were congratulated at the event.

Most Innovative Covid Solution. Bermuda’s Gateway System’s Solution team developed eTrack & Trace, a privacy-by-design product, used in office buildings to monitor visitor’s health conditions upon entering the premises. Kevin Luckham, Michael Harding and Zakia Tuzo accepted the trophy on behalf of John Kyle and the Gateway Systems team.

Local Market. The top honour went to Damien Furbert for Admuda Online Marketplace, an e-commerce shopping platform designed to accommodate medium and small businesses with an online outlet for their products and services. Merchants can create their own virtual store with real-time analytics displayed on custom dashboards. They also have the utilities to create their own ads, chat with customers, and track inventory to avoid customers ordering out-of-stock items.

Also in this category, Danielle Paynter was congratulated for creating NAB App, a solution to the problem Bermudian consumers have when trying to find specific brand-name products to purchase in local stores which will aid local consumers, and visitors, to "Buy Bermuda".

There was further congratulations for Janos Lengyel and Stephan Johnstone who head up Bermuda 3D Printing, which provides customers with an array of unique products ranging from laser-fit Covid masks, casts for broken bones, architectural models, remanufactured engine parts, customised super hero models, to one-of-a-kind 3D art and sculptures.

Most Innovative Youth. This category was divided into two distinct sections, programmes and projects. The top innovative youth programme went to ConnecTech Coding Programme, which has programmes in all government primary schools and brings middle school students into its labs for weeklong coding and robotics infusion programmes. In February, ConnecTech took a team of five students to the First Global International robotics competition in Dubai. And, when Covid restrictions threatened the implementation of classes beginning in March, ConnecTech pivoted by offering 20 online classes per week, which experienced over 2,300 student registrations from 29 Bermuda and 10 international schools.

Bermuda High School was also recognised for its first Innovation Expo. This showcase of student projects was a display of all things STEAM. Lead teacher, Lynn Furtado told the judges: “These experiential projects are not only fun, but they create deeper learning by encouraging the girls to make connections and comparisons between subject areas and develop their problem-solving and teamwork skills in the process.”

The most innovative youth project focused on the individual youth ages 11-25 who reside in Bermuda and have done noteworthy technology projects. The judges were most impressed by Gabe Jones, who made use of his time in lockdown, after travelling back to Bermuda from the University of Edinburgh, by connecting over a technology chat room with three other individuals to create CovidIQ. This database presents an answer to the need in the marketplace to enable community participation to help contain and forecast the spread of Covid-19.

The runner-up was the 2020 TFL Interns, comprising of Maha Clarke, Eli Smith, Tyler Cameron, Derek Tucker-Peters, Kirk Stapff, and Malachi Butterfield. They focused on a team project supporting one of Bermuda’s renowned social service organisations, Friends of Hospice – Agape House.

Most Innovative New Mobile App. In first place was a new app called OnTrack Bermuda. Citing a gap for a modern age tech solution, Shannon Burchell and Rodger Lee created a comprehensive software application designed to provide football and cricket stats, standings, fixtures, and teams data to both iOS and Android users. Additionally, the user interface allows individuals attending a contest to post the action, which is received by users in real-time. Schedules, player roster and individual statistics are also available through an exclusive partnership with the league governing bodies

Also recognised was an innovative service in the healthcare industry. TeleCare Bermuda, a remote patient monitoring service that specialises in tracking vital signs via bluetooth devices patients use with mobile phones from their homes, was brought to Bermuda by Lunette Castillo.

Most Innovative Covid Inspired Award. Developed as CovidIQ by the team of the same name, it is an online symptom reporting solution to track the spread of potential cases of Covid-19. When introduced to the Bermuda Health Council it was refined and launched as HealthIQ.

Initially, the idea of CovidIQ was conceived by Lee McArthur, a senior technologist in Bermuda. The project grew through his outreach to like-minded individuals, including Gabriel Jones, a Bermudian computer science student, Kai Huebner, a geographic information systems architect based in Brisbane, Australia, and Zeeshan Ali, a data scientist in Pakistan's Punjab province.

CovidIQ is designed to be used by health management authorities anywhere in the world who may not have the time or expertise to develop these sorts of solutions independently. In Bermuda, the platform was well received, with approximately 20 per cent of the population actively sharing their health status, and nearly 50 per cent visiting the platform to check on the progress of Covid-19 in their community.

Mr Burt thanked the TechAwards Committee who along with Marisa Stones, acting director of the Economic Development Department, put together the awards programme “in this most challenging year 2020”. The committee members were Sloane Wilson and Jana Darrell, of the Economic Development Department, Jamillah Lodge, Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, and project management team from the Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative, Joe Mahoney and John Narraway.