Established in 1962, the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM) is a Mediterranean intergovernmental organization composed of 13 Member States: Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, and Türkiye. It operates through its 4 Institutes based in Bari (Italy), Chania (Greece), Montpellier (France), and Zaragoza (Spain), and the Headquarters based in Paris.

While initially the focus of the Centre’s activities was mostly connected to agriculture and management of natural resources, as the global economy and scenarios has evolved as well as training needs, so have the Organization’s objectives and there is now a significant focus on developing digital skills for the Mediterranean. All the activities of the CIHEAM Bari remain firmly based on a bottom-up collaboration approach and are problem-solving oriented, in relation to the specific needs of the countries. Activities revolve around four key pillars:

• Precision agriculture and sustainable resources management
• Food security and sustainable food systems
• Blue economy and coastal areas management
• Youth entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem

Fincons Group is proud to take active part in CIHEAM Bari’s initiatives. One such initiative is the Master’s course in Open Innovation & Youth Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean Agrifood Sector, organized in collaboration between CIHEAM Bari and LUM. Along with other tech companies, and businesses from different industries, Fincons is providing training to 27 students participating in the program, coming from 11 different countries in the Mediterranean region, mainly from Africa. Between April and July, the Group, along with other companies, will play a leading role in managing internships focused on project work.

This is not the first time Fincons supports CIHEAM Bari’s activities and in 2023 the Group took part in Digital Skills, a high-level training course born from the collaboration between CIHEAM Bari, the Puglia Region, the Apulian IT Productive District, and DHITECH Scarl. The course was aimed to enhance the digital skills of 30 young talents from Albania, Montenegro, Puglia, and Molise through the innovative learning method of open innovation design thinking.

In collaboration with Pirelli and Enuklea, Fincons worked with one of the 6 project teams to address the challenge: "How can digital technologies help map and optimize processes throughout the tire lifecycle to achieve ISO certifications related to environmental impact?". Leveraging their deep knowledge and experience in the technological field, Fincons mentors have supported the participants in scouting digital technologies not yet implemented in the supply chain and potentially usable for real-time data processing.

This first involvement quickly evolved into a collaboration across multiple fronts including providing teaching and sponsorship for the first level Master’s course on Open Innovation.

Today’s international Master programme in “Open Innovation & Youth Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean agri-food sector” has a specific focus on the digitalization of the main economic sectors of the region. The programme is designed to empower younger generations and improve their employability opportunities by promoting their active involvement in the economic development of their regions and wants to stimulate digital entrepreneurship in the target countries in the agri-food sector. Participants have been selected from a wide range of countries and backgrounds and will be offered an internship after the course.

Fincons is proud to partner with CIHEAM and to provide its hands-on experience to participants via our expert training staff confirming the company’s commitment to both improving youth access to employment and to the development of local territories such as the Mediterranean where our business made its first steps.