Project-based learning is Digital Campus's core philosophy! Among the many real-world projects students work on, there is a personal project developed as part of the DCstart programme. Behind this somewhat unusual name lies the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial idea. The aim of this programme is to build students' project management and leadership skills, encouraging them to drive, coordinate, and manage a project through to completion.
DCstart is Digital Campus's equivalent of a dissertation. It represents the culmination of 2 years of hard work and the opportunity for our students to begin developing their start-up — and potentially launch it at the end of the Master's in Digital Strategy programme at Digital Campus Lyon.
During their first year, students are supported in generating their idea — a phase that sometimes proves more complex than expected. In their second year, students develop their project around this idea, change direction, explore new avenues, pivot, and ultimately present it before a panel of judges at the end of their programme.
Our students have therefore been immersed in their DCstarts for 2 years; it is now time for them to present their projects, armed only with their creativity, passion, and motivation.
Among the innovative projects that came to life this year, we can highlight:
- Flat'Share (Alicia Prenot). A flat-sharing solution aimed primarily at students on internships or work-study placements who need to vacate their accommodation for a relatively long period. This solution would allow tenants to offset their rent during absences, and short-term occupants to find affordable temporary housing. The project aims to address the issue of vacant properties in France (2.6 million), particularly in Lyon (over 6,000 vacant properties).
- Betatestr (Nicolas Odin and Dominique Silvestre). A platform where companies can carry out user tests with a community of testers qualified by skills or areas of interest. The platform is available here.
- 12 Degrés (Paul Fresnel and Solveig De Cuyper). A website and chatbot (Winybot) dedicated to guiding wine enthusiasts through the learning process. This project will allow wine novices and enthusiasts to discover everything about wine, from grape variety to appellation. Many other projects are also set to launch. Following their DCstart, students have the opportunity to be supported by an incubator that is a Digital Campus partner.