Digital Incubator is an Opportunity for Youth to Stand Out to Future Employers

The Institute for Innovations is relaunching online project ‘Digital Incubator’ where students from all over Croatia learn about creativity and innovation and apply that knowledge to real projects in collaboration with companies. For example, students choose industries and connect with Croatian companies such as Hrvatski Telekom, Jamnica, PIK Vrbovec, Pevex, Ericsson Nikola Tesla, and Poliklinika Bagatin, which are potential future employers. After lectures from numerous Croatian entrepreneurs and experts and the development of creative ideas, the best five teams present their work to a professional jury, and three student teams and three pupil teams from each industry receive cash prizes.

However, as project leader Filip Vrhovnik explains, the emphasis of the project is not on the solution but on developing the creative potential and entrepreneurial mindset of young people. He spoke about this and all the details of the Digital Incubator for Lider.

How did the Digital Incubator come about and what does it offer to students?

The Digital Incubator is an online project of the Institute for Innovations where students from all over Croatia can learn about creativity and innovation and apply that knowledge through the design of ideas and projects that create value. Our goal is to continuously develop the creative potential and entrepreneurial mindset of youth, which is especially important in these challenging times of social distancing when the number of interactions has decreased and the process of learning and applicable work has become more difficult. Despite this, we wanted to take advantage of the opportunities provided in the online context and, with the help of the platform stellarplatform.com, provide support to youth and connect them around meaningful and developmental topics. It is important that every young person in Croatia has opportunities for additional learning and development, regardless of where they come from. Digital incubators allow us to reach a large number of young people and provide them with the opportunity to develop their potential and showcase the full richness of their talents.

What were the results of the project in previous years?

Last year’s edition of the Digital Incubator focused on primary and secondary schools, where we managed to build a community of teachers and students who think differently and who want to actively work to develop themselves and their own potentials. We are pleased that nearly 2000 teachers and students from over 160 schools, from more than 80 different places across Croatia, participated and developed over 170 innovative projects. Such results clearly show that there is a large number of young people, as well as teachers, who continuously strive and look forward. They are not satisfied with average, do not look for ways to get by with minimal effort and work, and do not want to maintain the status quo. I believe this is the image of Croatia that we all want to build together. The Digital Incubator is a tool with which we can achieve that.

The Digital Incubator aims to develop creativity among students. How do you achieve this?

For many years, it was believed in the assumption that all people are born creative, and that the educational system kills creativity or diminishes the creative potential of children and youth. It has been shown that this assumption is incorrect because, in that case, children without any education would be the most creative and have the most potential – of course, that is not the case.

It is important to understand that humans are born curious, not creative, with a few exceptions. What we adults interpret as children’s creativity is actually curiosity and inquisitiveness, which manifests itself in numerous experiments and variations through which children seek to understand the meaning of the world they live in and are discovering.

Biologically speaking, the human brain is a so-called optimization mechanism created to keep us alive, not to create creative solutions. Throughout evolution, the strongest and most capable survived – not the most creative. Creative thinking consumes exceptional amounts of energy, and for that reason, the brain resists it and continuously tries to solve a problem or task with minimal energy consumption.

Creative potential varies from person to person, and if we want to develop it, we must continuously and long-term train the brain by countering the person’s inherent lack of creativity. The Digital Incubator provides this creativity training to youth. The focus is on the creative process through which a person goes, not on the creative output and results. Results will vary depending on the context and numerous other factors, but with a well-defined and structured process, we can monitor and influence the cognitive potential for creative thinking.

How will the Digital Incubator project be implemented? Who will be the speakers in the educational part of the project?

The first phase of the Digital Incubator is educational, where our goal is to convey key knowledge and principles of creativity, innovation, and the development of projects that create value to students. In this process, participants will learn from numerous professors, entrepreneurs, and practitioners who live creativity and innovation daily. 

Some of the speakers are Goran Vlašić – co-founder of the Institute for Innovations, prof. John Deighton – professor at Harvard Business School, Jan de Jong – Dutch serial entrepreneur in Croatia, Ivan Mrvoš – founder of Include, Albert Gajšak – founder of Circuitmess, Ognjen Bagatin – co-owner of the media platform Poduzetnik, Jelena Makovičić – actress and public speaking lecturer, Davor Runje – programmer, scientist, and serial entrepreneur, Marin Trošelj – co-founder of STEMI, Kristina Ercegović – serial entrepreneur and writer, and many others.

It is important for us that young people develop the knowledge and skills of the future, but also that they adopt behavior patterns and routines that are key to any value creation – whether in their own company or through work in a corporation. Only in this way can they translate everything they have learned into action.

What will the practical part of the project contain?

In the second phase of the Digital Incubator, students develop creative ideas and innovative projects. Students are completely free in this process and can focus on ideas and topics that excite them and around which they are passionate – without limitations. They will be assisted by structured tasks and lectures as well as feedback from mentors from the Institute for Innovations.

Which companies will students have the opportunity to collaborate with as part of the Digital Incubator?

Students, on the other hand, focus on selected industries in the development of innovative projects and connect with leading Croatian companies that are potential future employers. Thus, students from various fields across Croatia can connect and develop innovations for:

• Hrvatski Telekom, the general partner of the project – telecommunications industry
• Jamnica – beverage industry
• PIK Vrbovec – food industry
• Pevex – retail industry
• Ericsson Nikola Tesla – ICT industry
• Poliklinika Bagatin – medical tourism

Students will also have structured tasks, lectures, feedback meetings with mentors, and support in developing innovative projects at their disposal. All projects go through an evaluation process, and the best five will present to a professional jury.

What prizes can the best participants expect at the end of the project?

For the most successful, we have secured valuable cash prizes, with a total prize pool exceeding 200,000 kuna. Thus, in the student incubator, we will reward the three most successful teams in the category of primary and secondary schools, we will award the ‘School for Innovation’ prize for the most innovative primary and secondary school in Croatia, and the ‘Mentor Innovator’ recognition for teachers who have significantly contributed to the development of students’ creativity.

In the context of the student incubator, we will reward the three best teams in each industry and present the General Prize of 20,000 kuna to the overall winner under the auspices of Hrvatski Telekom. In addition to the cash prize, companies can independently decide to directly engage, employ, or invest in one of the winning teams. Therefore, the Digital Incubator is an excellent opportunity for students to stand out to future employers and showcase what they are capable of creating even before employment.

{embed_digitalno_izdanje}{/embed_digitalno_izdanje}