The first Hackathon for the lighting industry in Italy
It's time for the final phase of the LightHackers, the open innovation challenge with startups organized by iGuzzini in collaboration with EY with the goal of integrating customer experience with new innovative solutions.
Eight startups, selected through the online platform developed by EY, will take part in the final stage of the Hackathon at iGuzzini’s Headquarter in Recanati, on the 10th-11th of July, where they will develop ideas and innovative projects aimed at improving the customer experience for both business clients and final consumers. During these non-stop two days, the startups will work closely with mentors, iGuzzini staff, and industry experts. At the end of the Hackathon, the teams' proposals will be evaluated by the jury according to three criteria: innovation, potential impact on the business, and potential impact on user/customer experience. The best project will be implemented by iGuzzini, while the 2nd and 3rd will receive a cash prize.
The startups that have been selected to participate in this competition will interpret the proposed challenge by leveraging their technological skills, in particular on IoT, artificial intelligence, blockchain, virtual/augmented reality, advanced robotics and sensors, through social analogue and digital methodologies and marketing tools such as Wearable solutions and content dissemination.
"Innovation and technological development have always been distinctive elements in our company's strategy, which places people at the heart of any process," said Andrea Sasso, iGuzzini CEO. "This innovation-oriented initiative for the lighting industry is part of a broader program which aims at further enhancing the role of the customer as a lever to maintain market leadership. It is also an occasion to give young people the opportunity to express their creativity, motivate internal resources towards transformation, attract young talents, enrich business know-how with cross-industry experiences and foster the development of a shared design to help growth", concluded Andrea Sasso.
The Challenge
The 8 startups will have to elaborate different experiential proposals exploiting the application of new technologies and unique solutions that could be identified with the iGuzzini brand, vision and history. The solutions will need to reach the customers (business or consumers) in a direct way, and allow data gathering in order to improve the user experience, and boost business growth and market competitiveness.
The Teams
This multidisciplinary initiative aims to engage young talents from all over Italy, experts from different fields and the academic world. The challenge will involve 64 participants divided into 8 teams made up of 23 start uppers and 41 other figures (9 students, 6 industry experts, 18 employees and 8 EY consultants).
The Startups
Jury
- iGuzzini Illuminazione: Adolfo Guzzini, President; Andrea Sasso, CEO; Massimiliano Guzzini, Vice President and Business Innovation Director.
- EY: Luciano Iannuzzi, Advisory Board member of EY, Senior Advisor for Luxury & Design segment and for Open Innovation projects; Francesco Vitali, Senior Advisor at EY for Retail Consumer Products practices, Fashion & Luxury oriented.
- Academic: Paola Pierleoni, Professor at the Marche Polytechnic University – Information Engineering Dept.
Experts:
- Giacomo Santucci, Fashion & Luxury
- Giorgio Di Tullio, Innovation Thinker
- Francesco Tombolini, Deputy COO YOOX, Retail
- Alberto Apostoli, Architect
- Alberto Torsello, Architect
- Maurizio Varratta, Architect