VU Students Developed an App That Allows to Give Away Unnecessary Items
Vilnius University's (VU) sophomores have discovered innovative solutions to sustainability-related problems. The winning team of the annual student innovative app development competition has unveiled a platform to help simply give away unnecessary items for free to those who need them more, thus giving things a second life and reducing waste.
Donatas Kimutis, the lecturer of the course and head of the "Vinted" IT engineering team, says that the new generation of technology specialists learning in Lithuania is able to see the gaps in the market and offer unique solutions that have not yet been developed in the world.
"Karma" points for the given away items
Second-year students from the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics (MIF) program systems of the VU have developed intelligent apps that will allow them to contribute to solving current sustainability-related problems in a few clicks. About 120 sophomores in the course "Program Systems Engineering I" devoted a whole semester to this task with lecturers' supervision. In addition, seven student teams presented their ideas in a competition organized by the Faculty of VU.
The authors of the app "getKarma" won first place. They created a nonprofit platform to donate and give unnecessary items to others. According to the app's creators − Adomas Auga, Arnas Bulka, and Kristupas Gaidys − this app would make it easy to help people in need while getting rid of unnecessary items such as disused machinery, furniture, or other trifles. Furthermore, it would reduce the
additional resources needed to produce new items.
'After analyzing the market, we realized that it does not have many tools that would you to give away items that no longer need for free. There are platforms such as "Vinted," "Skelbiu.lt," and others that can perform a similar function but are not dedicated specifically to the free division of items. The tool we have developed allows to give away unnecessary items very easily while earning promotional system scores in the app – karma points that could be exchanged for our partners' coupons: special discounts and offers, gifts,' says the app's developers.
In an app, users will find the items they need, view their photos and descriptions, submit a request with a reason why the item is needed, and the ad's author will be able to select the user who will like the item.
Students care about sustainability
D. Kimutis, who advised students and headed the competition's jury, says that for the second year in a row, the competition's sponsor has become the largest online fashion goods trading platform in Europe "Vinted."
In consultation with Sigita Žvirblyte, the company's sustainability manager, students were given the task of developing a solution for three sustainability-related directions: convenient giving away unnecessary items, encouraging more walking, and reducing food wastage.
The second-place sophomore team has developed the so-called "Encounter ME" app, inviting people to know better the surrounding area while walking. The app gives a location photo and clues about finding a location based on the selected category. The solution should encourage to walk more and be better acquainted with the surrounding environment.
The third-place winning team "Lorem Ipsum" proposed a similar solution. The group created an app-game that offers a way to "conquer" the district by walking and overcoming the challenges.
'New technologies and business models are seen as the key to tackling the climate crisis and moving towards a more sustainable future. Therefore, it is not surprising that technology professionals will have to answer resource optimization and pollution reduction questions. It is encouraging that trends and studies show that the younger generation is concerned about issues related to climate change and more sustainable consumption, so we expect to see more and more interest from young professionals. VU student initiatives have also shown this – the new generation of technology specialists clearly sees the relevance of these problems through the prism of business and innovation,' says S. Žvirblytė.
D. Kimutis adds that young talents in Lithuania do not lag behind the world's high-level technology developers by offering original solutions that are becoming increasingly difficult to find in the market.
'As the needs and expectations of the consumer have changed, the technological environment must also adapt – it must help make better decisions every day and live more comfortably. It is essential for technology professionals to notice these changes promptly and reflect new trends. In addition, the younger generation cares about sustainability issues, as it reflects in students' work and development initiatives. The winners of the first prize even went one step further – they started looking for partners willing to support their idea and had already found several interested people,' says D. Kimutis.
He adds that the three highest-rated student teams will be awarded the prizes set up by "Vinted" – a learning subscription to "PluralSight" for further knowledge and books "C# in Depth" and "Pragmatic Programmer."