On May 2, the RomeCup, a three-day multi-event dedicated to robotics and life sciences will kick off at the Sapienza University of Rome Marco Polo Building. The appointments include competitions, didactic labs, creative contests, hackathons, orientation sessions, role modelling sessions and inspirational talks.
Youth will be introduced to jobs of the future by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale and SAP, one of the main companies providing IT business solutions for companies. The challenge that SAP will bring to RomeCup will address 360° sustainability.
We interviewed Salvatore De Caro, Intelligent Technology Expert SAP Italia, who will be on the jury of the Rising Youth Hackathon, to find out what will be happening, how the students will be evaluated and what opportunities may arise from these meetings.
What drove you to become a partner of RomeCup 2022?
The idea developed in November, when we launched Project Rising Youth with the Fondazione Mondo Digitale to help students acquire the digital and soft skills necessary to face the continuous changes underway on the job market. We worked with students from November until last month on the digital and technological skills, as well as soft skills, that are indispensable to work in the digital economy. We addressed the Business Technology Platform for company flexibility, spoke about artificial intelligence and chatbots, and studied intelligent robotic process automation to avoid repetitive processes. And we looked at data through new eyes, to predict the future and learn about user experience.
During the event, you will involve students who participated in “Rising Youth” in a final hackathon on sustainability. What are the four thematic axes and why are they so important to you?
At RomeCup, we will challenge the students who participated in our courses in a final hackathon on sustainability. The four main axes are: Holistic Steering, Zer0 emission, Zer0 waste, Zer0 inequality. SAP is firmly committed to sustainability in all its dimensions: environmental, social and economic. We strive to implement the United Nations’ SDGs and do this in a twofold manner. As a software company, we work as an enabler. We create innovative software solutions that will help our clients achieve their sustainability objectives with tools that, for example, can measure environmental impact, emissions, and inclusion in a working context. At the same time, we are adopting these ideas and initiatives in our own company. For example, we have zero waste programmes, programmes to eliminate plastic, reduce the use of energy, initiatives to promote inclusion and diversity and corporate social responsibility programmes to reduce the digital divide. We are not just enablers, but also strive to be an example.
How can events like RomeCup introduce young men and women to the jobs of the future?
The hackathon will be a true challenge for the students. A challenge to measure and overcome their limits. Participants will be called to use their skills – not just technological and digital ones – but soft skills, too, to work in groups, mediate and negotiate. This will also stimulate creativity, lateral thinking and curiosity. We will assess the students on their ability to innovate. We will see if they can truly identify something innovative that can be developed and also be sustainable.
How is interacting with the new generations an opportunity for SAP?
The advantages are manifold. Three come to mind immediately. Surely the new generations will allow us to collect new ideas. They will drive us towards innovation, which is our battle cry. Meetings like these allow us to meet talent! We present ourselves to the new generations and at the same time show them opportunity, career possibilities. They will experience how to develop an idea in a company on sustainability and innovation to drive the future. Finally, these opportunities are also socially important. They allow us to use our ideas about technology for social improvement and sustainability in a context that is very interested in these issues. In other words, they allow us to promote awareness and share a virtuous goal.
