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academy

Master's degree in Financial Innovation, five scholarships for eighth edition

10.10.2024
They say about us

Promoting continuing education in digital skills but also supporting young talents in their professional growth in the field of technologies applied to the sector finance. This is the aim of the Research Center on Technology, Innovation and Financial Services ofUniversità Cattolica ( Cetif) which, together with partners such as BCC Iccrea Group and Gasbarri Foundation, for the eighth edition of the Master in Financial Innovation is providing five scholarships.

The Master's program in Financial Innovation, which is directed by Prof. Federico Rajola, stands out in the national panorama of postgraduate offerings for two reasons. On the one hand, because it offers a highly professionalizing educational experience for all those who are interested in pursuing a career in the increasingly digitized banking and insurance ecosystem and grappling with the new challenges that rapid innovation in the sector brings. On the other, because it responds to a deep need in the market, the latter of which is continually seeking figures who can manage technological change.

After all, one of the main gaps in our country remains precisely the low level of digitization and lack of professionals in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). This is also said by the latest data from the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), according to which only 42 percent of Italians possess basic digital skills: an incidence that places the country below the EU average (55.6 percent) and 23rd among member states (for comparison, 52.2 percent in Germany, 59.7 percent in France, 66.2 percent in Spain). Not only that. 55 percent of companies report difficulty in finding suitable ICT specialists, even though business demand for digital skills is increasing, indicating the growing mismatch between supply and demand in the labor market.

To address this digital gap, Cetif has for years been committed to offering up-skilling and re-skilling training initiatives for professionals and young graduates, designed specifically to develop and improve certain skills in order to close the digital skills gap still very much present in the banking and insurance sector.

As does the Master in Financial Innovation, whose program covers the most innovative and rapidly evolving topics, including artificial and generative AI, blockchain and Web3, cybersecurity and metaverse. Participants will thus have the opportunity to acquire both theoretical knowledge, thanks to a faculty composed of academic experts and top managers in the sector, and practical knowledge, since an integral part of the Master's program is the internship in leading companies. In short, an educational proposal in line with the new professional profiles required today by companies in the banking, financial and insurance sectors and confirmed by a placement rate of 95 percent.

The scholarships provided by the partners represent a significant added value for the participants, offering them not only financial support but also the opportunity to come into contact with leading corporate entities. In particular, the three full-coverage ones funded by the BCC Iccrea Group through BCC Banca Iccrea, BCC Sinergia and BCC Risparmio & Previdenza, are aimed at students who have demonstrated excellence in innovation projects linked to the local area. This opportunity is part of the larger initiative called BCC Innovation Festival. The two partial-coverage scholarships provided by Alleanza Assicurazioni's Gasbarri Foundation will be awarded to students who are committed to acquiring knowledge in the insurance industry.