Empowering Southern Italy's Female Students Through Innovation and Technology

A project aimed at female students from the Universities of the Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and Sardinia regions to inspire them to build their future through open innovation, creativity, and sharing. This is “Women Shape the Future”, the new second edition of the hackathon promoted by Philip Morris within the Philip Morris Institute for Manufacturing Competences, the center for high-level training of skills related to Industry 4.0, in collaboration with Codemotion, the reference platform for the professional growth of developers and for companies in search of the best IT talents, and Meditech, a competence center for innovation and Industry 4.0. The students will have to tackle corporate challenges by proposing innovative and cutting-edge solutions that integrate technology, science, and innovation in an original and concrete manner within the following areas: application of artificial intelligence to ensure sustainable energy supply; responsible water management in manufacturing realities and production chains; application of the Internet of Things to implement advanced logistic systems. “We are proud to launch today the second edition of the Hackathon 'Woman Shape the Future', an initiative born to valorize the creativity and inventiveness of young female students in Southern Italy in the STEM field,” declared Eleonora Santi, Director of External Relations at Philip Morris Italy. “According to Eurostat data – she continued – in Italy in 2022, women were just 16% among ICT specialists; men 84%. A common effort is necessary to break down the stereotype, unfortunately still current, that sees STEM disciplines and careers as almost exclusively male, in the full awareness – she concluded – that the challenges of major transformations can only be won if everyone plays a leading role.” Chiara Russo, Co-founder and Executive President of Codemotion: “We are proud to provide female students with our experience in the digital world: this project aims to provide the context and tools suitable for bringing out female talent and stimulating innovation in sectors crucial for our future. In our country, the percentage of professions in the ICT field performed by women is still too low: it is necessary for it to grow because without the involvement of girls in the scientific and technological field, many development opportunities are lost.” The students participating in the hackathon will be guided by mentors, industry experts, developers, IT professionals, and technical figures from Philip Morris. The projects, to be delivered by May 4, will then be evaluated by a jury, which will award the two teams that have developed the most interesting projects. At the conclusion of the hackathon, an award ceremony will be organized and a visit to the Philip Morris Manufacturing & Technology in Bologna, the global center of excellence of Philip Morris International for the large-scale production of non-combustion tobacco products, product and process innovation, and personnel training.