Innovator Heath Raftery and Out of the Square Media boss Marty Adnum won the major honours at the NEWI Awards in Newcastle on Thursday night.
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Mr Raftery, an engineer, co-founder of innovation start-up NewieVentures and founder of the Newcastle IoT Pioneers collaborative, won the Joe Award, bestowed by NEWi organisers The Lunaticks Society.
The awards are Australia's largest digital awards program for regional innovators and creatives. They are billed as national awards, though most of the nominees are based in Newcastle.
Mr Adnum won the peer vote for Creative of the Year after his company won Digital Agency of the Year, created a high-profile campaign farewelling Queens Wharf Tower and was nominated in three award categories for its Reflections Holiday Parks website.
Other award winners included the electric bike-sharing firm BYKKO (best Smart City solution), geospatial data engineers and programmers Anditi (best tech start-up, international tech start-up and cloud solution) and restaurant app Eatsee (best mobile application).
Redback Solutions won best website for its work with WellFit Personal Training.
Lunaticks president Greg Hall said the awards acknowledged "people who have come up with solutions or a digital response to solving a problem".
"In terms of choosing the winners, it's been really tough because there are people doing exceptional things out there to solve problems in a different way," he said.
In a region which gives more prominence to sporting and cultural endeavours, Mr Hall said the ongoing digital revolution would affect "everyone from the cradle to the grave" and none of the innovators were "waiting for permission" to start implementing their ideas.
2019 NEWi Award winners
Best Smart City Solution: BYKKO
Best Greentech Solution: Bee Innovative
Best Tech Startup: Anditi
Best International Tech Startup: Anditi
Best Tech Startup [Pre-Revenue]: Bee Innovative
Best Educational Solution: Redback Solutions
Best Mobile Application: Eatsee
Best Retail Solution: Hyperweb
Best Health Solution: NSW Health Pathology
Best Tourism Solution: Lake Macquarie City Council
Best Cloud Solution: Anditi
Best Online Video: Enigma
Best Government Solution: Portt
Best Digital Agency: Out of the Square
Best Website: Redback Solutions
Creative of the Year: Martin Adnum
The Joe Award: Heath Raftery
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
