By Jeff Jones, Manager, Digital Innovation Hub
With sponsorship from Coles Group, the challenge united students from across the country to tackle one of the most pressing issues of our time: sustainability in retail.
Aiming to engage participants in designing a sustainable, engaging shopping experience for all Australians, the central question posed to the students was:
What does the sustainable store of the future look and feel like?
The challenge not only focused on sustainable shopping solutions but also emphasised the demand to improve the shopping experience to help Australians live healthier, happier lives.
Facilitated by the Digital Innovation Hub – Innovation Central Melbourne, the hackathon-style event was supported by partner universities Flinders University, QUT, University of Canberra, Curtin University, as well as Cisco.
A collaborative initiative, teams of three students, drawn from Innovation Central Hubs in Melbourne – as well as Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, and Perth – competed to develop solutions using cutting-edge technologies. They were tasked with creating solutions that would resonate with consumers, integrate seamlessly into existing systems, and contribute to a sustainable future.
The quality of the students’ work didn’t go unnoticed by the sponsor, Coles Group.
Nick Walker, General Manager (Coles Technology), Coles Group, praised students for their ability to grasp the complexity of the problem and deliver feasible, impactful solutions.
“It’s been incredible to see what the students have come up with from just grasping the complexity of the problem... There’s a really good understanding of the complexity and the problem statement.”
“What I was really impressed with is how the students focused in the end to deliver something that was feasible... We could see how we could do something and implement it in a way that works for our customers and team members. It’s been excellent,” he said.
Coles Group’s feedback underscores the real-world impact the challenge has, with students not only addressing key issues but also coming up with tangible, implementable solutions.
Over two weeks students participated in preparatory activities in their respective cities before heading to the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre to pitch their innovative solutions to Coles Group senior leaders and an audience of 8,000 on-site at Cisco Live and live streaming services.
La Trobe University student, Minh Duc Troung, Bachelor of Computer Science student said, “It was amazing. I met a lot of people, mostly people in the industry. I got a lot of advice from them and once the Hackathon was done, I get the chance to talk with them. Maybe I can expand my network a bit and then who knows, maybe they will help me find a job.”
The MasterTech Challenge was a platform for hands-on learning, problem-solving, and real-world application. Students were given full access to industry professionals, tools, and technologies to bring their ideas to life.
La Trobe’s own team, “ICM – DataGaze” proposed a unique solution using existing security cameras to track customer interactions with products, potentially optimising supply chains, providing a new way for Coles to interact with it’s suppliers and promoting conscious consumerism.
ICC - EcoSwaps, the winning team, created a solution designed to help consumers make sustainable shopping choices. Their idea integrated seamlessly into the Coles app, offering rewards through Flybuys for eco-friendly shopping decisions.
Other notable projects included SmartCart from Adelaide, a cost-effective solution that enhanced the shopping experience by integrating online and in-store shopping, and AI-Driven Sustainability from Brisbane, which proposed a cutting-edge system to reduce food waste through innovative technology.
