In a Blink the Central Coast is under the spotlight for Innovation

Ben Thomas-Brigden is happy to be working with the Central Coast Committee to be a part of the range of events during the Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival starting on the 8th May.

Ben Thomas-Brigden is 24 years old. He was born on the Central Coast and is already making his mark both as a business person and an innovator. Ben went to school at Kincumber High School where he developed a wireless modem, which led to him being awarded a prestigious scholarship, to study IT at Newcastle University.

While successfully completing his first year coursework he continued to develop products and by the end of the year, he had decided that one of the opportunities was good enough to commercialise.  This product, now called Syntara, is an innovative web-site builder.  His first company, Organise Internet was created to implement Syntara-based projects and now employs 5 people and has over 60 clients.

His latest ideas and products have led to another company, Blink Mobile Technologies, being formed with venture funding.  His BounceBack SMS concept allows any organisation to send its information simply, where-ever it's wanted, and only when it's wanted using SMS. 

The system has already been taken up by over 400 sporting organisations and schools. It has a broad appeal with eight councils taking up Blink's product to provide current information about council assets to their users.  Over 150,000 SMS transactions have gone through the system already. Blink's BounceBack SMS product was awarded a Highly Commended in the category of Innovation in Communications at this years national ATUG awards.

Mr Thomas-Brigden is a great example of a young innovator who has been able to create new and interesting solutions and, most importantly, has been able to convince others that they have commercial worth. He is participating in the Hunter Central Coast Innovation Festival. There are a number of events to be held on the Central Coast between the 8th and the 22 May and more information about the events can be found on the web site: www.hccinnovationfestival.com.au.

The festival has been fortunate to have GHD as a major sponsorship and has received funding from the NSW government through the Department of State and Regional Development. While the project has been managed by the Hunter Economic Development Corporation it has been supported through sponsorship from a number of organisations including Newcastle University, TAFE. Austrade,  AusIndustry Hunter Area Consultative Committee.

Local partners include the following Ourimbah Campus, NSW Business Chamber Central Coast, Central Coast Area Consultative Committee, and Business Central Coast.

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