Jul 25, 2014 -- Award-winning location intelligence company GIS People has been chosen to develop a solution for the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads’ (TMR) ‘graffiti problem’.

Large corporations and government organisations want to be more innovative but don’t often get the opportunity to engage with innovators in a meaningful way. Organised by PwC, supported by Queensland State Government and hosted at QUT, the inaugural Queensland Government Open Innovation Hub Pilot Project aimed to overcome this issue.

Held last weekend, the first stage of the project brought together companies both big and small, along with leaders from the start-up community, to present their ideas on four ‘problems worth solving’ – the topics were predefined beforehand.

GIS People nominated under the ‘Graffiti’ category to help TMR systematically identify, categorise and remediate graffiti across their assets. They took the chance to get in front of TMR’s panel of judges, learn about TMR’s problems, and pitch their solution to the graffiti problem.

The location of graffiti plays the most important role when it comes to identifying, classifying and removing graffiti, so GIS People’s solution placed location intelligence at the centre of the proposal, along with mobile technology and open source software. Collected over time, the geographic location of graffiti helps build a picture (or heat map) about where most of the incidents are occurring, and helps identify the areas on which TMR should focus. GIS People outlined the main features of the prototype that they will build to TMR, and showcased their potential.

The judges were impressed by GIS People’s novel idea and comprehensive system, and after careful consideration of all the proposed solutions they selected GIS People to progress through to a 12-week incubation stage to further develop the solution.

GIS People’s Managing Director, Igor Stjepanovic, says, “This will be a great opportunity for GIS People to develop a comprehensive tailored solution for TMR, and we look forward to working with PwC and Queensland Government in the incubation stage.”

Want to know more? Contact GIS People.