Big data could help immigrants gain employment

Our Master's students Minna Rissanen, Antti Korpelainen and Stella Kallionpää have won the Accenture Digital Innovation Challenge (ADIC) student competition organised by Accenture and Slush. They were awarded the grand prize of 10,000 euros

The School of Business team was tasked with finding a solution to a challenge set by the Finnish Immigration Service, i.e. how to improve the employment of immigrants. The greatest problem experienced by immigrants was their lack of professional networks. Networks are nevertheless necessary when looking for work.

'Our concept Hidden Gems identifies hidden jobs by utilising open data found online.' the team described its winning idea. 'Our concept will help immigrants and other jobseekers find networks that they did not perhaps originally have.'

Seven teams in competition final

The Accenture Digital Innovation Challenge student competition has been underway all autumn and culminated on 1 December when its final was held at Slush. During the final the seven selected student teams presented the digital innovations they had developed.

Students sought solutions to digital challenges set by Ilmarinen, Metso, Sanoma, Stora Enso, UPM, Kalmari and the Finnish Immigration Service. The finalists included teams from universities and institutions of higher education from around Finland. In addition to Aalto's team, there were students from Oulu, Lappeenranta and Helsinki.