Mapping solution for twitter data on flooding wins 2nd Australia-Netherlands Water Challenge

An innovative design platform that facilitates the analysis and mapping of massive volumes of twitter data in near real-time to support emergency response activities during flooding disasters has won the 2nd edition of the Australia-Netherlands Water Challenge.

The solution by a team of students from RMIT and the University of Melbourne was presented at the International Riversymposium in Brisbane on 25 September.

Participation from nine Australian universities
The team consisting of Paul Munro, Dan Peade and Damian Meoli competed for the award against three other teams who had emerged as finalists after a 5-month competition that involved students from nine universities across Australia.
(team presentations on top photo)

The award was presented to the winners by Julie McLellan, CEO of Healthy Waterways and chair of the judging panel.

Fun experience
Says the winning team: "Being part of the Australia-Netherlands Water Challenge has been an illuminating and fun experience. We've had the chance to work with the foremost experts in the industry and were really impressed by the quality of the other finalists. We're looking forward to making the most of the opportunity to take our idea to the next level."

The other ideas competing in the finals included the FloodHealth App by Angela Werner, University of Queensland, the Dairy Pasture Flood Irrigation App by Pieter Raedts, La Trobe University, and the WaterWatch App by Stephanie Borgonia, Emmanuel Diinis and Amanda Siqueira, University of Technology Sydney.

All finalists will be given the opportunity to further develop their idea.

Engaging young talent
The Australia-Netherlands Water Challenge is an initiative by the Dutch water sector aimed at engaging young talent with the collaborative programs undertaken between Australia and the Netherlands. Under the theme Australia Water Smart, this year's competition challenged students to come up with innovative ideas that take advantage of social media data and apps to help Australians make smarter water decisions.

The first challenge was wun by Kevin Loh, Masters student at the University of Queensland, for his proposal for a smartphone app that would greatly expedite the handling of insurance claims after a flood event, reducing both psychological and economic damage.
(read more on this website: InsureMe App wins first Australia-Netherlands Water Challenge, 12 October 2012)

The Australia-Netherlands Water Challenge is supported by a group of leading Dutch water companies and organisations including Van Oord, Royal HaskoningDHV, Deltares, HydroLogic, Netherlands Water Partnership and the Dutch Government. Partner in Australia is the International WaterCentre.

More information
Holland Water Challenge
Gregor van Essen   gregor@hollandwaterchallenge.nl
www.hollandwaterchallenge.nl