DBS Digital Express Challenge 2015 Kicks Off at NYU Shanghai

For the first time ever, NYU Shanghai’s Career Development Center partnered with the Development Bank of Singapore (DBS Bank Ltd.) to host the 2015 Digital Express Challenge, attracting students interested in development, marketing, and design on a digital platform. Introduced to digital innovation on January 21, students ended the challenge on January 24 with a final prototype, concept poster, and pitch.

Keeping in mind the inevitability of a digital future in the hands of a younger generation, a team of DBS associates worked creatively in guiding the highly attuned NYU Shanghai students in developing ideas and projects that they all hope will come to fruition.

The students were urged to analyze observable and relevant problems in the competitive digital banking space and come up with innovative solutions. Localized problems they tackled included financial interdependence, effective management of family finances, bettering the development and loyalty of online merchants, and creating a sense of trust and safety between customer and online interactions.

The challenge’s winning prototype was the “Mama Mia” mobile app created by the team Gucci Girls, which included Natalie Kuan, Sijia Liu, Zhenyuan Ding and Yue Ma.

Kuan explains the concept of their project, “We decided to create a digital platform that gets the whole family engaged in financial interactions. Parents can view what stocks their children ‘like.’ Together, they decide how much to invest in each stock. By giving their children,say, five percent of the earnings, this will teach children how to make wise investment choices and keep them interested. If an investment fails, it will also teach the child to grow and learn from their mistakes.”

“We'd like to express our great gratitude to mentors from DBS and all the people who have helped us," Ding said. "Often, kids our age don't like to listen to our parents' preaching. So we came up with the idea that we should turn the investment into a game between children and parents—whoever makes the most money-making decisions wins the game."

Associate Vice Chancellor Hongxia Liu, who participated in the event, concludes with her support, “The wonderful collaboration between DBS and NYU Shanghai exemplifies how business can benefit from our students' creativity and how our students can gain practical guidance from business leaders at the same time.”

View the DBS Digital Express Challenge 2015 Gallery