International support for young ideas

Ilgaz Yaman, İrem Güneş, and Ceylin Ada Uyar, members of the Izmir University of Economics (IUE) Global Leaders Student Club,achieved international success with their project aimed at raising young people's awareness of digital financial systems and producing innovative solutions. Based on a two-stage simulation model named ‘The Inclusion Lab’, the project qualified for a $4,000 grant from the US-based Interledger Foundation.

The project, brought to life by IUE Industrial Engineering student Ilgaz Yaman and Political Science and International Relations students Ceylin Ada Uyar and İrem Güneş under the mentorship of Department of Business Administration faculty member Prof. Dr. Mehmet Gençer, will launch within this month. It will begin with a workshop on campus open to all interested students.

THEY WILL OFFER SOLUTIONS

In the first phase of the project, young participants will experience the drawbacks of traditional banking systems, such as high commission fees, transaction delays, and limitations on micro-payments. In the second phase, the Interledger Protocol (ILP) infrastructure will be introduced to demonstrate hands-on how money can be transferred in small amounts between different payment systems quickly and at low cost. Students participating in the workshops will also develop open payment solutions and prototypes for real financial scenarios, such as campus cafeteria payments and shared expenses. Educational materials will be prepared based on the innovative ideas emerging at the end of the project.

“WE CONTINUE TO EXPLORE”

Expressing that receiving grant support from an international foundation is a major achievement for them, Ilgaz Yaman, President of the IUE Global Leaders Student Club, said, “Together with our club's Vice President İrem Güneş and Board Member Ceylin Ada Uyar, we aimed to carry out a unique initiative under the roof of our student club where we could both develop ourselves and contribute to fellow students. We are truly thrilled that the project we prepared was appreciated and supported internationally. Developing such an important project as a student club is a distinct source of pride for us. We are still at the beginning of the road, and we continue to learn and explore new things. Now, our biggest objective is to implement our project and generate new ideas together with fellow students. We want students from different departments to come together in our workshops, learn from one another, and give birth to great ideas.”