HSO Connect: Europe’s Largest Education Hackathon Continues to Grow

HSO Takes It to the Next Level: Europe’s Largest Educational Hackathon Continues to Grow

Following last year’s successful debut, the HSO School of Business and Computer Science is further expanding its educational hackathon, HSO Connect. From September 21 to 24, 2026, approximately 600 students in Barcelona will develop solutions for a real-world business challenge presented by CUPRA Switzerland, once again making this the largest educational hackathon in Europe. For the first time, students from the Certified Business Administrator (HF) program will join students from the Certified Business IT Specialist (HF) program in participating. This year’s venue is the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower, a hotel specializing in meetings and events with the capacity to accommodate the expanded format. At the heart of HSO Connect is a current marketing and digitalization challenge from CUPRA Switzerland. Instead of working on a theoretical case study, the students develop solutions for a concrete problem from real-world business practice. Working in interdisciplinary teams, they go through three sequential sprints. They analyze the problem, develop and test initial solutions, and use these to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The solutions are then further refined during the module and finally presented on Pitch Day. “Practice-oriented continuing education is one of the cornerstones of HSO. The Intra- and Entrepreneurship module epitomizes this: Our collaboration with CUPRA Switzerland gives our students access to the real-world challenges of an international brand even while they’re still in school and provides them with the opportunity to immediately apply what they’ve learned in practice,” says Hannah Felber, Executive Director of HSO.

Education and Business Create Added Value Together

With the “Road Trip of a Lifetime,” HSO and CUPRA Switzerland impressively combine theory and practice: In teams of two, four HSO students will drive a fully electric CUPRA Born from Zurich to HSO Connect in Barcelona, with the goal of completing the route as energy-efficiently as possible while competing against one another. This requires strategic planning, teamwork, and business acumen under real-world conditions. However, the collaboration between HSO and CUPRA Switzerland extends far beyond HSO Connect. As a practice partner, CUPRA Switzerland supports the Intra- and Entrepreneurship module and brings real-world business challenges directly into the continuing education program. The grand finale of the module—or, alternatively, of the 2026 collaboration—will be the Pitch and Career Day on October 23, at which CUPRA Switzerland will participate as a career and corporate partner. Through masterclasses, one-on-one discussions, and insights into various career paths, CUPRA Switzerland creates valuable opportunities for students to connect and explore professional prospects. Through masterclasses, one-on-one discussions, and insights into various career paths, CUPRA Switzerland creates valuable opportunities for students to connect and explore professional prospects. “The exchange with students opens up new perspectives on issues that concern us as a company. At the same time, participants can develop their ideas under real-world conditions and gain immediate insight into practical requirements. It is precisely this connection between education and business that makes the collaboration valuable for both sides,” says Nicolas Hobi of CUPRA Switzerland. isolutions AG is also participating as a digitalization partner. Experts from the company will serve as mentors to the teams during the various sprints. They will help students assess technological possibilities, further develop their ideas, and turn them into concrete prototypes.

Barcelona Becomes a Classroom for Four Days

The choice of venue is closely linked to the challenge partner. Barcelona is home to CUPRA and offers students direct insight into the brand’s environment. Representatives from CUPRA Switzerland and the CUPRA headquarters in Barcelona will be on hand during the event. For four days, the HSO will thus move its classes to an environment where entrepreneurial thinking, product development, prototyping, and interdisciplinary collaboration are put into immediate practice. At the Hyatt Regency Barcelona Tower, the expanded HSO Connect program will have a larger event venue at its disposal.