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The Information Technology Program (ITP), a multidisciplinary summer programme, was held for the 28th time in the summer of 2023. The ITP is Aalto University’s summer programme that brings together students from a wide range of backgrounds from around the world. This summer, 68 students participated in the course. Over the course of three months, students solved digital business challenges in multidisciplinary teams. 

Before the course, students choose one of the three ITP specialisations, which they study in depth under the guidance of expert lecturers. The specialisations are Information and Service Business (ISB), Digital and Interactive Ecosystems (DIE) and Strategy and Experience Design (SED). The language of instruction is English. Students complete 24 credits during the summer and thus earn their minor as part of their Master's or Bachelor's degree.

ITP students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, which is a richness of the programme: this summer they had 25 different majors and they represented 18 different nationalities. Around 49% of ITP 2023 students were from the School of Business, but there were students also from four other schools at Aalto University. The other home universities of the students were the University of Helsinki, Ã…bo Akademi and Singapore University of Technology and Design. 40% of students were Master’s students and 60%  Bachelor’s students.

Three months of project work

At the heart of the programme is a three-month business project. This year again, ITP partnered with a number of interesting and well-known companies and other organisations. The students looked for and found solutions to the digital business challenges faced by the organisations. To work on their projects, students received guidance and support from ITP staff and lecturers. The ITP2023 project manager was Senior Program Manager Victor de Bruin from the Department of Information and Service Management at the School of Business and ITP alumni Leevi Halén, Anssi Moilanen and Carlotta Pezzica worked as ITP coordinators.

The participating organisations have always given excellent feedback on the summer course. They have reported valuable solutions, new ideas and inspiration, and have found the cooperation to be very effective. Many business representatives have praised the students' solutions and said that they will continue to build on them to develop their organisations. 

‘The past summer was again immensely educational and inspiring for all the students of the program. International industry professionals and academic staff ensured that the course was of very high quality. Long-term valuable networks were established among the students also during the program's numerous leisure activities throughout the summer,’ commented ITP coordinators Leevi and Anssi.

The application period for ITP 2024 will start in January 2024 and end in early April 2024. ITP is free for Aalto University graduate students as well as for students from other Finnish universities with a JOO agreement and students from Aalto University's partner universities with an existing exchange agreement. Applicants must have completed 60 credits of undergraduate studies when applying for the programme.