The SoI extracurricular program provides students with knowledge and skills necessary to turn their ideas into innovative products within an existing company or their own start-up. Trentino region has many small and medium-sized firms that have been growing in size and the level of internationalization. Upon completion of the SoI program and getting the Innovation certificate, participants’ chances to be hired by these companies will grow exponentially, as they will know how to come up with a novel idea, protect their patents, develop a sustainable action plan and find ways of financing it. Moreover, SoI graduates are able to support the development of new products and new business strategies in large local, national or international corporations, which are increasingly pressured by competition to grow and develop.
Research centres, innovation consultancies, business incubators and local business development agencies would like to have within their teams young people with interdisciplinary knowledge of the innovation process and strong entrepreneurial skills. Finally, SoI provides its students with the tools necessary for becoming an entrepreneur themselves and for starting their own innovative, independent business. Moreover, those SoI students who have affinities for society-oriented professions will be prepared to take positions in social enterprises, NGOs, or international organisations, since these sectors are increasingly getting innovation-driven.