FTxBocconi Challenge: Young Talents with Ideas for the Future Hybrid World

APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN FOR THE 2022 EDITION OF FTXBOCCONI TALENT CHALLENGE, THE BOCCONI AND FINANCIAL TIMES COMPETITION CALLING ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONALS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO COME UP WITH INNOVATIVE BUSINESS IDEAS AND STRATEGIES

The importance of digital technologies in all aspects of our lives has been further pressed and underlined during the pandemic. Today we are immersed in a hybrid world for which we need to find the best solutions and the most innovative ideas to get the best out of the experiences we have in the physical and digital worlds. With this in mind, the third edition of the FTxBocconi Talent Challenge, organized by Bocconi University and Financial Times, will thus focus on ideas and solutions to integrate physical and digital presence in work, healthcare, entertainment and retail. 150 university students and young professionals from all over the world will be selected to challenge themselves in finding new strategies and business models in a competition that will take place at FT's headquarters in London from 6 to 8 February 2022.

Challengers this year will focus on solutions for the “Future Hybrid World” in the following fields: work, health, entertainment and customer experience - searching for innovative business ideas and strategies that must first of all be sustainable from a social, environmental and economic point of view. They will work with alumni and academics from Bocconi who will support and mentor them throughout the event to help understand how innovation works within management, finance, marketing and entrepreneurial frameworks.

The challengers will have access to masterclasses and talks on the impact of digitalization and emerging digital technologies on the business world, delivered by panels of experts from Financial Times and Bocconi. Divided in teams, they will be assigned specific challenges for the four fields and at the end each team will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of an audience and jury of professionals, Bocconi faculty, alumni, as well as FT journalists and board members.

Applications are open until November 24: fttalent.ft.com/ftxbocconi2022/

“Over the past 18 months, we have learned to live isolated in our homes, sitting in front of a computer to meet our needs for socializing, studying, shopping, entertainment, and our very health. We appreciated the advantages of digital but even more those of the sharing and physicality me missed,” says Gianmario Verona, Rector of Bocconi University. “Now we need to redesign our world and we need to do it in a hybrid, sustainable and inclusive way. To do this you need young and curious minds, ready to be inspired by challenges. Just like the 150 contestants we seek for the third edition of FTxBocconi, the challenge conceived pre-Covid by Bocconi and Financial Times which in recent years has continued to grow, proposing new ideas and discovering new talents.”

"FTxBocconi is a fantastic opportunity for international students to contribute to the debate on how businesses are changing as a result of COVID-19, and help shape how we deal with this new hybrid world. The challenge will take students to the heart of digital disruption, stretch their imagination and give them a unique platform to consider meaningful solutions to complex challenges, such as the integration of our physical and digital presence,” says Jon Slade, FT Chief Commercial Officer.

The winners of the challenge will be interviewed for the final phase of the acceleration program of B4i, Bocconi’s accelerator. Furthermore, the winners will have access to a dedicated one-to-one session with the B4i team to review their business idea and the presentation. They will also have a mentoring session with FT professionals and their pitch featured on the FT Talent website. And five winners will also have the possibility to participate for free in one of the business courses run online by SDA Bocconi in partnership with GetSmarter. 

The previous two editions of the talent challenge have already seen the participation of 250 young people from 50 countries around the world and the participation of speakers such as Nobel Prize winner Michael Spence, Federico Marchetti, Founder of YOOX NET-A-PORTER, Mario Monti, President of Bocconi, Diego Piacentini, President Exor Seeds and former Senior Vice President of Amazon.

 

by Tomaso Eridani