Credit: © Pierre Levy / www.levygraphie.lu

The non-profit association, Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg (JEL) has announced it recently organised a Business Challenge presented by Eldoradio for the 26th edition of the Innovation Camp.

Twice a year, Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg organises its Innovation Camp during which secondary school students aged sixteen or over have the opportunity to seek a creative, sustainable and innovative solution to a “Business Challenge” submitted by a sponsor from the professional world. It is an intense experience during which young people have the opportunity to learn to work as a team, meet deadlines, compete with other groups, present their ideas and defend them in front of a jury. “Launch a new application as well as a new Eldoradio website, targeted at 15-25 year olds” was the subject of the challenge in which 40 secondary school students took part this June.

On Thursday 6 June 2024, the 26th edition of the Innovation Camp took place at the Eldoradio headquarters in Luxembourg-Kirchberg. In total, 40 students from fourteen different secondary schools participated in this event.

Divided into mixed teams, the participants discovered the challenge the same day and had one day to propose their solutions. For this edition, students pondered on the digitalisation of a media brand, aiming to launch a new application and website aimed at fifteen to 25-year-olds. The following Eldoradio employees guided and supervised the young participants throughout the day:

  • Tony Ewen, Director;
  • Cynthia Meris, Head of Programmes & Editor-in-Chief;
  •  Yamina Recht, Editor.

Eight teams presented their project to the general public at the end of the day, aiming to convince the jury’s members, namely:

  • Delphine Nouviaire, Internal communications manager (RTL Group);
  • Sandra Bintz, Head of digital products & deputy content director (RTL Lëtzebuerg);
  • Tom Weber, CTO (RTL Lëtzebuerg).

According to JEL, the jury, who expressed their delight at the creativity and solutions proposed by the participants, were finally able to distinguish three teams for the podium:

The first prize was awarded to the WebApp team, composed of Lilou Vallado (School of Commerce and Management), Mina Koudri (Lycée Aline Mayrisch), Rafael Sanches Costa (Lycée Technique de Lallange) and Timo Romeo (Lycée Michel Rodange). This team reimagined Eldoradio's marketing strategy and proposed several improvements for the application such as easier connection using FaceID and a reorganisation of the different sections.

The second prize was awarded to the YoungEldo team, composed of Anika Krein (Lycée Aline Mayrisch), Ashley Griffiths (Lycée Robert Schuman), Jamie Heusbourg (Lycée Classique de Diekirch) Kylian Furtado (Bouneweger Lycée Luxembourg) and Milan Imiolczykv (Lycée Michel Rodange). The team proposed to create an application with a personalised home page, a greater variety of music genres and new sections such as “Events” or “Student Jobs”.

The third prize was awarded to the Micko team composed of Ilias Jacobi (Lycée Michel Rodange), Léa Rodrigues (Lycée Aline Mayrisch), Mara Scheiter (Lycée Classique de Diekirch) and Tommy Jack (Lycée Michel Rodange). This team imagined an application for young people and a new mascot, Micko, which would complement Eldoradio’s mascot, Chicco. In addition to the news, events, podcast or music sections, this application would also offer an AI microphone option, allowing users to ask various questions about current events or to offer their freelance articles.

Tony Ewen, Director of Eldoradio explained why the organisation of this day is important for the company: “I am extremely impressed by the work accomplished by these young people in just one day. It is essential for us to establish direct contact with our target customers. It is not always easy to reach young people aged fifteen to 25 and collect their feedback regarding our brand. This is why it was crucial for us to participate in such a programme. We found it interesting to give them this challenge allowing for constructive criticism. This is precisely what we expect from young people to understand what we can improve or change wherever possible. We will analyse their proposals and determine how to implement them.”

Cynthia Teixeira, coordinator of the Innovation Camp and event manager at JEL, emphasised: “The Innovation Camp is a wonderful opportunity for secondary school students to put their creativity and innovative spirit into practice. I am delighted to see the enthusiasm and commitment of the participants, who brilliantly took up the challenge proposed by Eldoradio. Their solutions demonstrate their ability to think innovatively and sustainably. We are extremely proud of their work and excited to see the impact of their ideas.”