MONTRÉAL, Nov. 10, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - More than 270 healthcare and IT professionals gathered at the Complexe Desjardins this weekend as part of the Innovation Challenge Health+Promotion. What were they doing? They were combining their expertise, new digital technologies and their innovative ideas to find concrete solutions to various healthcare challenges.
This challenge was spearheaded by Desjardins Group, in conjunction with Hacking Health, IBM Canada, the CHU Sainte-Justine and the Public Health Agency of Canada. It was presented as a "hackathon" (combination of hacker and marathon), a concept designed to stimulate creativity and to create innovative applications around a specific theme.
"Innovation is about working together and using technologies to leverage good ideas. This first ever Desjardins Innovation Challenge was dedicated to health. Our goal was to produce concrete solutions that would help people gain a better understanding of the factors determining good health and to adopt long-term healthy lifestyle habits," noted Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Desjardins Group.
Fifty ideas emerged from the five main themes of the weekend:
A total of 28 ideas were developed and submitted to the judges.
The big winners
The grand prize, which includes $3,500 in cash, IBM Bluemix workshops and access to the services of the Fasken Martineau startup program, was awarded to SocialAngel, a mobile app for parents to keep an eye on their children's social activities. With the young ones permission, mom and dad can be alerted when sources of stress like online bullying occur.
The Bluemix prize, comprising of a one year subscription to IBM Global Entrepreneur Program (with access to IBM Bluemix), was awarded to e-Munité, an online and mobile app designed to suggest prevention measures according to the health conditions programmed in the user's profile.
The Health at Work prize –$1,000 awarded to the favourite entry promoting workplace health – went to Tribu, an innovative solution intended to help caregivers by creating a support group to share knowledge and resources.
The Mon menu initiative, which is a personalized app that takes the user's dietary restrictions in account before suggesting the best option available on the cafeteria's menu, went home with the $1,500 Nautilus Plus prize.
And finally, The Public Health Agency of Canada handed out two prizes, which included workshops, mentoring sessions and market intelligence services to the teams that developed the Run2Play and HALEO concepts.
About Desjardins Group
Desjardins Group is the leading cooperative financial group in Canada and the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world with assets of close to $251 billion. It has been rated one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada by Aon Hewitt. To meet the diverse needs of its members and clients, Desjardins offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its extensive distribution network, online platforms and subsidiaries across Canada. Considered North America's strongest bank according to Bloomberg News, Desjardins has one of the highest capital ratios and credit ratings in the industry.
SOURCE Desjardins Group
Image with caption: "More than 270 healthcare and IT professionals gathered at the Complexe Desjardins from November 6 to 8 as part of the Innovation Challenge Health+Promotion. (CNW Group/Desjardins Group)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151110_C6320_PHOTO_EN_540472.jpg
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About Desjardins Group Desjardins Group is the largest cooperative financial group in North America and the sixth largest in the world, with assets of $464.7 billion as at September 30, 2024. It has been named one of Canada's Best Employers by Forbes magazine and by...
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