Team Fillet Finder has taken the Australian prize in the inaugural Australian Fishackathon held over the weekend.
Fishackathon is a global initiative of the US Department of State designed to raise awareness and help develop innovative solutions to address overfishing and marine sustainability issues.
Fillet Finder reigned supreme for its app to help seafood lovers identify fillets and be sure what they were buying matched the label.
Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Anne Ruston, congratulated Fillet Finder’s five person team of Angus Yuen, Benjamin Mo, Edwin Li, Emma Young and Mendel Liang
“Well done to Fillet Finder and everyone who took part in Fishackathon over the weekend,” Minister Ruston said.
“The Australian Government recognises the need for innovation industry, and hackathons are one great way for new ideas to be generated.”
The Fillet Finder app provides consumers with handy information to identify fish fillets when they are at the market. A searchable database provide key identifying information including; images, size, texture and shape information, as well as seasonal information and sustainability of the species.
Utilising open source data and image recognition Fillet Finder impressed the judging panel. In particular the judges liked how the team had interpreted the problem and made consumer awareness and education the key objective of Fillet Finder.
For taking first place the team received a local prize of $2,000 sponsored by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and will go in the running for a worldwide grand prize that includes a $10,000 cash prize and an Application Development Grant to help develop their idea.
