An application to offer gifts and provide experiences beyond the stay in the hotel, designed for Hotels Plaza (one of the participating companies), has been this Tuesday, April 10, the winner of the second edition of the Tàndem project, promoted by Actua and the Government of Andorra.
Students of the Aixovall Vocational Training Centre have been working on innovative ideas with entrepreneurs, mentors and teachers all along the year. Sergi Suárez, spokesperson for the winning team, Grup Tancat, said the experience has been “very enriching” while hoping this project “can be a reality”.
The final presentation of projects, which took place in the auditorium of the Aixovall Vocational Training Centre, was attended by more than a hundred people and was chaired by the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Eric Jover, the leader of Actua’s Education Cluster, Ferran Costa, Andorra Desenvolupament i Inversió’s director (Actua Invest in Andorra), Judit Hidalgo. Jover stressed that “Tàndem project creates a link with companies (and promotes values such as teamwork, transversality, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, trying to find solutions to real challenges).
Ferran Costa stressed that “this year, Tàndem project has clearly consolidated itself, with numerous fully feasible projects that provide solutions to company problems” and added that “students see the knowledge acquired bring real possibilities aplicable in the professional world”.
The challenges
This year, Vocational Training students had to face the challenges posed by Dermandtek, Hotels Plaza and Inlingua companies. Dermantek wanted to raise public awareness of the need for skin cancer prevention check-ups, Hotels Plaza wanted to offer a personalised gift experience to its clients, and Inlingua proposed the creation of an attractive language immersion project during the months of July and -08- aimed at teenagers.
Among the 5 finalist projects, the winner, Grup Tancat, proposed for Hotels Plaza an application and a loyalty system to allow clients enjoying exclusive advantages and activities in the hotel.
This group will therefore enjoy a space for technological and innovative Start Ups or companies in Barcelona Tech City with whom Actua has a collaboration agreement.
Tàndem becomes a consolidated project
Tàndem presented in this second edition several novelties with respect to the pilot test of 2017, in which 11 students participated, led by five teachers, and with the involvement of a single company. This 2018, the project involved all the Vocational Training students (61), tutored by 11 teachers, and they worked on challenges posed by three companies.
Tàndem, Actua’s entrepreneurship project with VT students
Tàndem is part of the Strategic Plan for Renovation and Improvement of the Andorran Educational System (PERMSEA) promoted by ACTUA and the Government of Andorra’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education. It responds to the need to develop its own model that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of VT in the country. The idea is to introduce learning spaces where companies and collaborating entities meet with Aixovall’s VT Centre, to generate economic and social value. Tandem is, in fact, an open innovation community where professionals, teachers and students interact to respond to real and significant challenges existing in companies and within the Andorran society in general.
Tàndem’s first edition ended last May 2017, with the presentation of three proposals from VT students that gave different solutions to the challenge posed by Perfumería Júlia. The challenge consisted of analysing the client’s behaviour in order to improve shopping experiences in the perfumery’s shops. The winning project was an application that enables the capturing of customer information thanks to a method combining NFC, Wifi and Bluetooth technology.