Webuild increases commitment to attract young talent to support digitalisation of infrastructure sector

GENOA, March 31, 2023 – Young talent, sustainability and innovation in infrastructure through consolidated institutional partnerships: these are the key words behind the Hackathon UniWeLab Prize, promoted by Webuild with the University of Genoa, whose second edition concluded today. In this two-day event, Webuild and the University of Genoa put to the challenge civil, construction and robotics engineering students in an innovative event regarding the digitalisation of infrastructure. The initiative is part of Webuild's collaboration with research centres and universities as it seeks to recruit young talent, which represents 44% of the Group's workforce. 

Students participating in the hackathon were asked to come up with innovative ideas to make more efficient the monitoring of the progress of work on construction sites by using robotic and automated solutions. Their ideas were also to help improve safety, such as maintenance activities on large tunnel-boring machines (TBMs). The winners were Gianluca Galvagni and Mario Prato (Italy), and Baba Hadj Said (Algeria). They suggested building a digital ecosystem that would integrate various technological systems at the construction site that would be capable of “speaking” among each other and check, in a virtual environment, how work is progressing. 

The Hackathon UniWeLab Prize is a further example of the link between Webuild and Genoa, the city where the Group built the Genoa San Giorgio Bridge and where it is building strategic projects for sustainable mobility like the Terzo Valico dei Giovi, which has employed 5,000 people, directly and indirectly, since it began, with more than 2,500 suppliers. Genoa is also where a new breakwater is to be built, giving work to more than 1,000 people.

UniWeLab is a joint research effort between Webuild and the University of Genoa. It is a model of open innovation, begun a few years ago with the aim of jointly bringing innovation to their respective sectors and create value for the region. The hackathon originates from this partnership.

UniWeLab is part of Webuild's training and talent attraction initiatives in Italy and abroad that provide career counselling, recruit young talent and include it at the Group's construction sites worldwide. It also offers tutoring to young employees in the sector. The Group has partnered with the Politecnico di Milano and Bocconi University in Italy. It has similar initiatives with the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Melbourne in Australia.