Become a digital strategy expert capable of managing a 360° project with the DC Start.
What is the DC Start?
The DC Start is the final project for our master's students to validate their degree. To earn the title of Digital Strategy Expert, the majority of students' skills are assessed through this personal project, built by each master's student at Digital Campus.
The DC Start is also a highly professional educational exercise that tests master's students in a real-world context, transitioning them from project manager to project developer — the person who coordinates resources, skills, ideas, and techniques to bring a concept to life.
From the very start of the master's programme, the DC Start allows students to demonstrate the skills of seasoned professionals, leverage the knowledge and know-how gained throughout their digital strategy expert curriculum, and above all, reveal their personality through a concrete, realistic project that could potentially be activated after graduation.
This personal project can take the form of a freelance activity, an association, a start-up, all while showcasing one's own expertise: art direction, experience design, brand content, data management, web development, technical skills…
4 Sprints that structure the 2 years of the Master's programme
The DC Start programme is organised around 4 sprints spread across the two years of the master's, each dedicated to a specific objective:
Sprint 1: Ideation — Develop an expertise, bring a strong digital concept to life
Sprint 2: Exploration — Discover your market, identify a value proposition
Sprint 3: Implementation — Demonstrate the feasibility of the project
Sprint 4: Activation — Deploy a growth strategy
Each stage of the DC Start is punctuated by deliverables, coaching sessions, and oral presentations, to ensure the project is as fully developed as possible before the final defence.
Ideally, the project has a positive impact; if not, it is important to be aware of this and to try as much as possible to integrate this dimension into the proposed solution. But the real challenge for students — anticipating two years of intense work — is to choose a subject they truly embody and believe in, so they don't lose motivation along the way.
Trekeeper and Neoly, two DC Start projects in the spotlight on the Paris campus
At the Paris kick-off on 6 October, Cloé and Valentin, two alumni, came to present the work they produced as part of DC Start.
Cloé Coupris, a former Lead UX student, presented Trekeeper, an application that advises hikers on the gear to take with them based on their needs and the location of their route.
« Coaching sessions are invaluable — cherish your coaches » — Cloé Coupris, Digital Campus alumna
Valentin Gresse, a former Brand Content student, designed Neoly, an application to help elected officials manage their mandate and strike a better balance between professional and personal life.
The DC START Manifesto
« The DC Start is the project of projects at Digital Campus — the articulation between what you know how to do and what you want to do; on one side, your skills, the expression of your know-how and technical mastery; on the other, your desire, the expression of your vision and understanding of the world; at the centre, the art of making the possible come alive, between dream and reality — the art of the project. »