Leonardo S p A: Cyber ​​​​Security | innovation | Space | Sustainable development #T-TeC, the challenge of sustainable development in Space and on Earth

The fourth edition of #T-TeC, the Telespazio and Leonardo Open Innovation competition, open to STEM students, researchers and university researchers around the world, is now online. Franco Ongaro, CTIO of Leonardo: “The next generation of engineers will be called upon to reinvent everything around us. Participating in a competition is the best way to understand the true value of an idea.”

New solutions to support the future challenges of the space sector. An open innovation initiative promoted by Telespazio and Leonardo aimed at researchers, start-ups, research centers and academies. #T-TeC was launched to harness the potential of the next generation, challenging participants to tackle the issues that will shape the space sector in the coming decades. The top three projects will receive cash prizes and the winning team will also be able to take part in an acceleration course to develop their project at the Leonardo Business Innovation Factory. The closing date for contest entries is November 27.

“We also want to look for ideas outside our innovation pool – emphasizes Franco Ongaro, director of technology and innovation of Leonardo -. Research and innovation are the basis of our work but in this context it is also essential to look around you. The Leonardo method ranges from university research – we collaborate with more than 90 universities and have launched dozens of doctorates – to our Labs, which today employ more than 100 researchers, through the search for innovative start-ups and new ideas”.

“Initially – adds Ongaro – #T-TeC was only seen as a competition to identify innovative ideas from the next generation, to generate a dialogue with the new levers of the sector. This year, we want to take a new step and make participate the winning team in the Business Innovation Factory, our acceleration program The chosen group will participate in the Leonardo acceleration program and Adventure, our BIF partner, with the support of a mentor to maximize its business effects. Indeed, we saw how some of the entries from previous years of the competition were mature enough to be considered true startups.”

“Today, thinking about the future means above all addressing the key issue of expertise – continues Ongaro. In the next few years, for example, there will be a growing demand for two skills. Everything related to to digitization: data scientists, artificial intelligence and in general people capable of manipulating digital systems, not only in the sense of software but also of the electronics that make the software work. My generation, those of us who weren’t born and raised with digital technology, struggle to innovate. Another area that directly uses a series of STEM skills is sustainability. The next generations will have to work to save the planet and saving the planet essentially means reinventing everything around us.”

The teams participating in the 2022 edition of #T-Tech will focus on six macro-themes closely related to sustainable development in Space and on Earth: “Space and Extraterrestrial Exploration”; “In-orbit servicing towards a circular economy in space”; “Geoinformation Applications and Platforms for a Sustainable Earth”; “Awareness of the space domain for the protection of space and terrestrial infrastructures”; “Secure and resilient communications with future technologies”; “Positioning, navigation and synchronization infrastructures and solutions for the Earth and other celestial bodies”.

“Participating in a contest – concludes Ongaro – is a way of doing more than just saying: yes, I had a great idea, but I went on with my day. If you don’t enter a contest, you never know how far this idea is worth pursuing. It’s always worth participating in.”

To find out more and enter the contest, go to the page dedicated to #T-TeC 2022.