A New Generation of Junior Developers Presented Digital Solutions for Real Industry Needs
On Friday, July 11, a Demo Day of the Bootcamp IT educational program was held at the premises of Step Ri Science and Technology Park of the University of Rijeka, marking the completion of an intensive three-month program focused on developing new IT professionals. The education program was conducted as part of the European INNO2MARE project and culminated in the presentation of digital solutions that participants developed in collaboration with local IT companies.
During Demo Day, twelve participants divided into three teams presented applications they had developed in response to real-world industry needs. The projects were created in cooperation with IT companies including AlphaWave, Span, Ventex, RIS Software, LogIn, CyberArrange, Lloyds Digital, Elixirr Digital, Infobip, and Glis Glis. These companies participated in various stages of the program—from introducing participants to their business operations and IT sector experience, to designing project tasks based on real-life challenges, and actively mentoring the development of the solutions.
The first team developed an application called AzilApp in cooperation with RIS Software, a digital solution for managing animal shelters. The second team, in partnership with Login, created a system for digital booking of services and appointments at golf resorts. The third team collaborated with CyberArrange to develop a web application for graphical modeling of IT systems.
The presentations were held in front of industry experts, mentors, and representatives of the IT sector. Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, and the applications were recognized as concrete, useful, and potentially market-viable solutions. However, Demo Day was not only designed as a final presentation—equal focus was placed on connecting participants with the industry.
In the second part of the event, structured networking was organized in the form of so-called speed dating with employers. The aim of this format was to enable mutual introductions: on one side, participants had the opportunity to present their knowledge, interests, and ambitions; on the other, companies gained insight into the potential of new talent ready to join the workforce.
About the Education Program
The Bootcamp started in April and consisted of two main components: technical and business. During the first two months, participants went through an intensive program covering Python programming, algorithms, data structures, databases, object-oriented programming, and the basics of web development using React and Flask. The technical part of the program was led by the Center for Technical Culture Rijeka, with the goal of preparing participants to work on real projects.
In parallel, the business component of the program was developed, led by the team from Step Ri Science and Technology Park, and covered the development of business skills—from market research and building user-oriented solutions to pitching ideas and teamwork.
The final phase of the training focused on working on real-world project tasks defined by partner IT companies, further ensuring the relevance of the content and its alignment with labor market needs.
The Bootcamp IT education is part of the INNO2MARE project, conducted under the Horizon Europe program. The aim of INNO2MARE is to strengthen the innovation and research excellence capacities of the Western Slovenia and Adriatic Croatia ecosystems through a series of co-designed activities focused on the digital and green transitionof maritime industries.
