Erasmus student from Economics of Innovation climbs on the podium at the Innovation Hackathon in Kaunas: congratulations to Gianpaolo Caprino
Â
Congratulations to Gianpaolo Caprino, a student of the University of Insubria, currently based in Lithuania for the Erasmus program, who ranked second at the Innovation Hackathon Society Goes Green!
The event was held from 19th to 21st of November in Kaunas, Lithuania, mainly promoted by the KTU-Startup Space Accelerator and the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), in the KTU-Santaka Valley, the main office of Kaunas Technology University. A three-day nostop contest, which brought together over 26 groups and about 120 members to propose innovative concept ideas on the issues of sustainability and circular economy.
Gianpaolo Caprino is enrolled in the second year of Economics of Innovation at GEEM, at University of Insubria, he is finishing his Erasmus semester in Kaunas, where he has been since August, and is ready to leave again: he won a scholarship for the Double Degree which Economics of Innovation has with the Université de Bordeaux (France) and he will spend the second semester in France from January.
In detail, Gianpaolo was selected to follow a course of the ECIU Challenge circuit called "Transition of Kaunas towards circular economy", he joined the EcoLoopX team together with 4 other students and proposed an open innovative concept idea focused on the creation of an educational mobile application to: encourage the citizens of Kaunas to behave in a green way, participating in monthly challenges in exchange for discount and coupons that can be spent in the main shopping centers and most important points of interest in the city; develop co-creation by proposing solutions to relevant green problems that the city seeks to solve in view of the imminent nomination as European Capital of Culture 2022.
The Innovation Hackathon jury appreciated the idea as relevant in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development, selecting it for second place on the podium, nominating the EcoLoopX team for the €1000 prize.
For Gianpaolo it was an experience full of satisfactions: "Without the professionalism and availability of my professors - comments the student - I would not have obtained this result. Economics of Innovation is offering me many opportunities of great value.
To win contests like these, having an entrepreneurial spirit is not enough, because in order to develop an idea in just 48 hours it is necessary to have basic knowledge and hard skills in statistical analysis, to acquire important information quickly".
ECIU Challenge:
https://challenges.eciu.org/challenges/2468593/transition-of-kaunas-towards-circular-economy
Innovation Hackaton:
https://www.innovationhack.lt/
KTU Startup Space:
https://startupspace.ktu.edu/
KTU Santaka Valley:
https://niec.ktu.edu/santaka-valley/
Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022: