Encouraging technological innovation and opportunities for students in tourism and e-commerce.

The inaugural “WebBeds Awards”, organised by the Fundació Universitat-Empresa de les Illes Balearic Islands (FUEIB) and supported by locally headquartered global B2B travel booking platform, WebBeds, aims to encourage technological innovation and reward students’ efforts in the field of ICT innovation in the field of tourism and/or e-commerce.

University of the Balearic Islands students Gabriel Barceló, Pablo González and Rafael Quart, receive the “Best Final Master’s Degree Dedicated to ICT Innovation in the field of Tourism and/or eCommerce” awards for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 academic years.

The three students have been awarded for their final degree projects at the event held at the Sala de Actos at the University. “Mallorca is blessed with a talent pool in Tourism and Technology and the University provides a key conduit for students into these industries. Being able to partner and be part of the award process gives WebBeds an opportunity to both reflect on the creativity and innovation of the students and also provide some guidance as to where their ideas can grow in the industry.” said Graham Anderson, CIO WebBeds. “Public-private collaboration is important to recognize and attract talent. The winning works try to respond to real problems of society, which is an aspect of practical applicability that makes us grow as a society through the transfer of knowledge” added Llorenç Huguet, Rector of the Universitat of Balearic Islands.

The event was attended by the Rector, Dr. Llorenç Huguet; the Vice-Rector for Innovation and Institutional Relations, Jordi Llabrés; the director of the University-Business Foundation, Luis Vegas; as well as award-winning students and their tutors. Attending from WebBeds was Graham Anderson, Chief of Information Officer; Francisco Cobos, Agile Coach; and Ricardo Galli, Head of Global Data Architecture, Innovation and Group Infrastructure Services.

The Final Degree Project is an autonomous project under Tutor’s guidance. This project is intended to help students practice their newly acquired skills, to show that they acquired the necessary competences associated with the degree, this project takes place in the last year. This final Project is known in Spain as (TFG).

The winning projects, each receiving a diploma and prizes valued at 1,500, 1,000 and 500 euros respectively, included:

• First Prize: Gabriel Barceló Soteras, with the Final Degree Project (TFG) Implementation of an electronic contract signing scheme based on blockchain, tutored by Josep Lluís Ferrer, professor of the Telematics Engineering Area.
• Second Prize: Pablo González Maya, with the Final Degree Project (TFG) System of automatic tests for Smart TV applications, tutored by Antoni Bibiloni and Antoni Oliver, professors of the Area of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.
• Third Prize: Rafael Quart Deyá, with the Final Degree Project (TFG) Analysis, management and implementation of Smyrooms Extranet, the bed bench of the Logitravel group, tutored by Isaac Lera, professor of the Area of Architecture and Computer Technology.

The selection committee for the WebBeds Awards was made up of Luis Vegas, Francisco Cobos, Ricardo Galli and Jordi Llabrés, vice-rector for Innovation and Institutional Relations at the UIB, and chairman of the selection committee.