Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Glasgow University have announced the launch of the 2022 UK and Ireland Sustainathon.

The programme is a problem-solving competition challenging university student to address corporate sustainability problems through digital technology, creativity, and teamwork.

Registrations are now open for the Sustainathon, which invites university students to work alongside TCS and its partner network during a two-week sprint.

The partnership looks to engage with universities across the UK and Ireland to launch the competition, as part of its ongoing commitment to promote STEM skills, nurture young talent and support sustainable enterprise.

TCS will work closely with its clients and supporting organisations as the challenge partners for 2022, including Phoenix Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Improvement Service, Community Fibre and Marks and Spencer.

Participating teams will be given the opportunity to join a series of interactive masterclasses, virtual mentoring sessions and online webinars with business and community leaders who will guide them through each stage of the ideation process and help to turn their concepts into a reality.

After presenting their solutions to the judges, the winning teams will be rewarded with sustainable prizes and an opportunity to showcase their ideas at the grand finale event on Tuesday 6th December.

The judging panel will be comprised of representatives from UnifAI Technology, the Rail Delivery Group, a selection of not-for-profit organisations, and sustainability experts who are independent from the competition process. The Grand Finale’s winning team will be offered a one month paid internships with TCS.

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Gopalan Rajagopalan, Country Head, TCS Scotland & Sales Director, TCS UK&I, said: “TCS is fully committed to addressing environmental challenges in the countries and communities we operate in, and to building a sustainable future through innovation and adoption of digital technologies.

“The TCS Sustainathon will encourage university students to work with some of our customers and partners to identify and address real-world issues and bring their ideas to life.”

Last year, the winning team ‘Biophilic’ from University College London was challenged to increase community engagement around sustainability by enhancing the digital functionality of Scotland’s National Entitlement Card (NEC) app.

Biophilic was invited to present their winning concept to an audience of business leaders at TCS’ Innovation Forum in London, which resulted in the companies working with the students to develop their ideas into a real solution.

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