Public Health England calls on tech firms for lifestyle-improving innovations

A new national innovation initiative has been launched by Public Health England that seeks to canvass lifestyle-improving tech concepts from early-stage businesses.

Entitled PHE Health X, the competition calls on start-up companies to submit existing products or concepts for improving people's health, with winners to receive a range of benefits including promotional support through the Change4Life campaign, a presence on the NHS Choices website and help with product development.

Entries will be accepted until August 1st 2014, with the top ten applicants being invited to present their digital solutions to a Health X panel at an event in London on August 11th.

The judging panel will be made up of representatives from Public Health England, the Daily Telegraph, Entrepreneur First, Health Box, Delta Partners and Tech City UK, who will help to select the three eventual winners.

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said the organisation "recognises that technology can play a part in helping change people's behaviour [and] is looking for products that are based on evidence that they work".

This comes after the government body recently announced that the Change4Life will be partnering with Disney to promote the benefits of healthy living to families.