Augmented reality-based software will help students to memorise Leopardi's poems, but also to more easily acquire all the other concepts encountered in their course of study. Immersive learning through “Metacultura”, the software imagined by the team that won the first edition of “Hack Your Talent”, the hackathon (a name combining hacking and marathon) reserved for fourth and fifth-year high school students in the province of Ragusa.
Last weekend, from May 13th to 15th, SIKUEL together with Ricca IT, eVision, Banca Agricola Popolare di Ragusa and Under the patronage of the Ragusa Municipal Department for Youth Policies, 20 students divided into 5 teams, with the support of teachers and mentors, have worked on their own projects from scratch, moving from analysis to design and development. They tested their strategic planning skills using tools such as SWOT analysis, aimed at validating the sustainability of their start-ups. They simulated mobile applications using rapid prototyping tools like Figma (already used by companies such as Twitter, Dropbox, and Slack). They wrote code to create an e-commerce website with animations produced in After Effects. To seek funding, they structured their own lending crowdfunding campaign, a form of alternative financing based on peer-to-peer lending. They even created and distributed a virtual currency on the blockchain, applying gamification principles.
Young people were challenged to tackle three key areas: the evolution of city services, eco-sustainability and energy for environmental improvement, and new scenarios for an innovative future. These challenges aimed to generate new potential applications, as illustrated on the portal. hackyourtalent.it. The jury, composed of representatives of the event's promoters and opinion leaders, awarded the project “Metacultura”, which was deemed the most deserving from a crowdfunding perspective and was created by students Elio Cerraj, Giuseppe Occhipinti, Rosario Di Quattro and Stefano Vitale of I.T.C.A. Fabio Besta in Ragusa.
Special mentions for the “E-compost” project, an e-commerce dedicated to innovative ecology, and for the “Art at app” project which, through the online marketplace, aims to give new life to restored or to-be-restored artistic objects, whilst the “Meta-tour” and “Pingu” projects looked at innovation in the field of tourism hospitality. During the three-day event, direct testimonials from local entrepreneurs such as Giovanni Salvaggio of Siculamente and Salvo Fazzino of Sygla, along with institutional interventions from Mayor Peppe Cassì and Delegate for Youth Policies Simone Digrandi.
“We have united our will, ideas, and resources to give our region, and particularly our young people, a concrete opportunity for involvement, project development, and cooperation in terms of methodology,” state the organisers. "We believe that generating employment and professional growth for our young people from Ragusa is a challenge to be faced for the future, through intergenerational dialogue where institutions, businesses, schools, financial institutions, and educational organisations can and must guide towards a medium and long-term vision of support.".
“Hack Your Talent was a winning gamble for us, and one with which we intend to fuel generative processes for our region,‘ highlights Stefano Ricca, president of Ricca IT srl, who inspired and hosted the event. ’We are confident that, with this initial wave of energy, we can encourage more and more entities in our region to unleash a veritable 'tsunami' of opportunities for our young people, working collaboratively and thus reversing a trend that too often sees them seeking hope and professional outlets elsewhere. This period offers us great possibilities, provided we know how to listen and support our young people synergistically, right from their school days.". We have the ambition to believe, together with our partners, whom I thank for the great harmony and mutual support, that the best is yet to come.
The second edition is already scheduled for next year.
