At Cisco Live, the National Industry Innovation Network (NIIN) hosted a MasterTech Hackathon with a key challenge set by Coles for students from the network to solve during the weeklong event.
Students from Innovation Central Canberra (ICC) won the challenge with their project, EcoSwaps which offers a technology solution for customers to make more sustainable choices in their shopping journey, aligning with the growing demand from environmentally conscious customers.
EcoSwaps, created by ICC students from the University of Canberra, features “an algorithm that can easily be implemented in the Coles website and app. It takes into account the customer’s previous purchase history and based on that; it makes suggestions that are more sustainable”.
One of the winning University of Canberra students explained, “For example, if a customer has previously bought four small bottles of Coke, the algorithm can instead suggest purchasing two larger 1.25L bottles of Coke, which uses less plastic and is cheaper. Doing the MasterTech Hackathon at the NIIN stand at Cisco Live allowed me to connect with other people and get inspired by new technology around.”
The MasterTech Challenge brought together student teams from Cisco’s Innovation Central ecosystem across Australian cities including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, and Perth to design sustainable technology solutions, challenged by Coles.
The program highlights the valuable role Innovation Central facilities play in developing skills and talent that are industry ready. These opportunities equip students with crucial skills while generating technology solutions that meet the needs of businesses investing in sustainability.
Photo credit: Cisco.