The Innovation Districts COVID-19 R&D Challenges (IDC) is a $3 million project by the state government.

Its aim is to fast-track products and services that address COVID-19-induced challenges related to the health and wellbeing of NSW people.

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Businesses that have technologies or solutions that support remote health and medical solutions supporting telehealth, mental health and resilience, as well as remote business operations, working from home, remote communications, remote sensing and monitoring, cybersecurity and the Internet of Things, are eligible to apply for this program.

The UNE SMART Region Incubator will work with businesses in the New England North West to prepare their applications for a regional independent panel to select three outstanding businesses to compete with a state-wide pool of 36 businesses, each hoping to grow with a portion of the $500,000 funding allocation.

"There will be three challenges over the next 12 months and this first one focuses on solutions to assist NSW with recovery from COVID-19," Director of the UNE SMART Region Incubator Lou Conway said.

"This challenge is a way for business to collaborate with university researcher to fast track solutions that can make a difference to the people of NSW."

This initiative is supported by CSIRO and 11 NSW universities, and will showcase the ingenuity and capacity of NSW business to bring to market solutions that can benefit NSW people.

To register an Expression of Interest to participate in the New England North West Program go to https://smartri.com.au/innovationchallenge/application/.