Webuild S p A : Challenge4Sud launch - a challenge of ideas, innovation and technology, for engineering students of southern Italian universities, promoted by Webuild and PwC

A new initiative of the "Webuild Next-Gen" plan, a programme dedicated to young people and their training and growth in the infrastructure sector

Milan, March 4, 2022 - Challenge4Sud, an initiative organized by "Stati Generali del Mondo del Lavoro", and promoted by Webuild and the Infrastructure Task Force of PwC Italy, is about to be launched. The project aims at promoting the most innovative and sustainable ideas, in the context of digital technologies applied to infrastructure. And also, to make them available to the growth and competitive challenges that Italy is facing now. It is an actual research and technology "challenge" aimed at engineering students, women and men, of the Universities of Southern Italy.

Challenge4Sud will bring innovation and sustainability to the infrastructure sector, leveraging the often-unexpressed potential of the South of Italy. It aims at creating an important moment of mutual contamination between students and the company, under the motto "You Challenge, We Change!" launched by Webuild. It is an opportunity for young people from the South of Italy in the business arena, while also stimulating collaboration and co-creation. It is also a way to strengthen Webuild's commitment alongside its current project partners in the South of Italy.

For several years Webuild has been engaged in an important infrastructure investment plan in Southern Italy, including the islands, where today it is implementing 15 major projects, involving about 11,000 people, including the related industries, and a supply chain of over 2,000 direct suppliers. They are strategic works for Italy, the Naples-Bari high-speed railway line, the Palermo-Catania and Messina-Catania railway lines, and the Jonica State Road.

Challenge4Sud will see the active participation of students of the three-year and master's degree courses of the engineering universities of Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Puglia, Sardinia, and Sicily.

To participate, these young men and women must first register for the virtual Bootcamp that will be held on March 24th. During the event, Webuild engineers will present themes, timelines and rules of the game. Afterwards, and until April 12, students will be able to register for one of the available challenges, including Webuild's, divided into 3 different focuses on the interaction between artificial intelligence, computer vision and digital modelsapplied to the construction site of the future. Those registered, divided into working groups of 3 participants, will have one month to formulate new proposals which will then be evaluated by a team of academics and managers, based on impact, feasibility, creativity and innovation content, and the presentation's effectiveness. The winners will be announced during a streaming event that will see the 3 finalist groups compete against each other.

For more information on Challenge4Sud, and to register for the Bootcamp held on March 24th, please click here.

Challenge4Sud is one of the many initiatives of the "Webuild Next-Gen " Youth Plan, the programme of activities in which Webuild is investing, which summarizes the Group's global commitment to training and attracting young people in the infrastructure sector. Among the programme's key activities: the "Premio Alberto Giovannini", dedicated to the best degree theses on innovation and the digitalization of infrastructures; the "Scuola dei Mestieri", a specific training programme for new resources who will be included in the Group; "100 Giovani Ingegneri del Sud", a recruiting programme aimed at encouraging the employment of young talents trained by the Universities of Southern Italy; and finally "Ingenio al Femminile< /a>", to enhance female STEM professional skills, and reduce the sector's gender gap.