Accra-Ghana, June 4, GNA – Delta Airlines, in collaboration with Junior Achievement (JA), has presented awards to participants of this year’s innovation camp challenge.
The participants, made up of 65 students from 13 universities, were grouped into 10 teams for the competition.
It was attended by students mostly from universities, in Accra, and held at the, Academic City.
Team Four emerged winners, team Five came in second, and team Two placed third.
The awardees were presented with medals, gifts, and certificates for their performances.
The participants were to develop a solution to a challenge: “How can modern technology be used to improve the overall customer experience of Airlines from booking to arrival”?
The evaluation criteria for the judges included understanding of the challenge, originality of the solution, feasibility of the solution, structure of presentation, presentation skills, teamwork, and handling of questions and answers.
Ms Eloina Baddoo, Sales and Marketing Manager, Delta Airlines, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, and Liberia, commended the students for their efforts, saying, “those who did not win are winners in their own right.”
She said the feedback from the judges was not to discourage them but to prepare them for the workforce in the future.
She advised the teams to keep in touch, form a strong bond beyond the camp, and share ideas for future projects.
The event, she explained, encouraged young people to find solutions to real-life business situations and enhance skills for the future workforce, including creativity, critical thinking, teamwork, and problem solving.
She encouraged the participants to take advantage of the opportunity to engage resource persons and their colleagues to learn new ideas for their career improvement.
Ms Baddoo said Delta Air Lines remained committed to investing in the next generation of leaders and hoped their personal and professional development would be significantly impacted throughout the sessions.
She said Delta Air Lines supported 32 JA chapters across five continents to teach students about financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship.
For his part, Mr Abeiku Greene, Executive Director, Junior Achievement Ghana, encouraged the students to embrace the power of innovation by unleasing their creative thinking for success.
He admonished the students to leverage collaboration to get the most out of the workshop, adding that partnership resulted in excellence.
Mr Greene advised them to develop an entrepreneurial mindset to be self-employed and ensure resilience in the pursuit of their career aspirations.
Junior Achievement Africa, part of JA Worldwide, is one of Africa’s largest organizations working on youth economic empowerment.
Mr Isaac Aboah, facilitator for the Design Thinking Session, introduced the students to concepts of innovation and hands-on experiential activities to apply their skills to real-life case studies.
He said it was imperative to work together to produce better outcomes and to “think outside the box” to solve a problem.
The one-day business simulation workshop was to encourage creativity, critical thinking, teamwork and problem solving as the young people put forward solutions to real-life business situations.
Delta team members were available to support JA Africa’s team and provide coaching and mentoring to the students throughout the day.
The workshop on innovation and design thinking was led by a resource person from the Technology and Innovation Centre at Academic City.
Through real-life case studies and hands-on experiential activities, the workshop challenged students to use their thinking faculties and think outside the box.
They learned to approach problems from different perspectives, recognise multiple solutions, and collaborate effectively in teams.
Following the workshop, the students were divided into teams and presented with real business challenges faced by Delta Air Lines.
