Call for Registration
The Open Group INITIATE program is thrilled to announce the Enterprise Architecture Competition for Students 2026, inviting participants from both management (MBA or equivalent) and engineering (B.Tech/M.Tech or equivalent) disciplines. This competition promises a unique blend of immersive learning, hands-on problem-solving, and mentorship, offering students a profound experience in the dynamic realm of Enterprise Architecture.
What is Enterprise Architecture?
Enterprise Architecture is the practice of analyzing, designing, planning, and implementing enterprise analysis to successfully execute business strategies. Enterprise Architecture helps businesses to structure IT projects and policies to achieve desired business results, and to stay on top of industry trends and disruptions using Architecture Principles and practices.
The TOGAF® Standard, a standard of The Open Group, is the most used framework for Enterprise Architecture that provides a best practice framework for adding value, and enables the organization to build workable and economic solutions which address their business issues and needs.
How to apply Enterprise Architecture - TOGAF® Series Guide: A Practitioners’ Approach to Developing Enterprise Architecture Following the TOGAF® ADM. This document provides guidance on using the TOGAF framework to develop, maintain, and use an Enterprise Architecture.
Competition Themes
- Digital Sustainability
- Digital Transformation
- Organizational Agility
- Agentic Enterprises
- Supply Chain Management
- Change Management
- Platform and Ecosystems
- AI Governance
- Enterprise Risk Management
Challenge Outline
Student teams will present their comprehensive solutions, showcasing how their proposed Enterprise Architecture approach can lead to successful enterprise transformations. This includes selecting a project, analyzing challenges, and developing deliverables with industry mentor guidance.
Further details and clarification will be provided during the knowledge session post registration
Competition Highlights
- Eligibility: Open to undergraduate and postgraduate level students in management and engineering
- Integrated Learning: Explore theory and hands-on projects guided by industry mentors
- Real-World Challenges: Engage with actual Enterprise Architecture challenges faced by organizations today
- Creative Solutions: Showcase your innovation and propose efficient Enterprise Architecture solutions
- Prizes and Recognition: The best projects will be honored at an award ceremony with attractive cash prizes for the winning teams. Selected submissions may be showcased in other events and the material published in different forms
- Internships: Eligible teams may receive invitations for potential internships
How to Participate
- Team Formation: Build a team of 3 -5 students from the same university. Each team should have a minimum of 3 members but not more than 5 including the team leader. This excludes the industry mentor
- Registration: Visit link to register your team
- Project Assignments: Engage in real-world Enterprise Architecture challenges and detailed project assignments
- Internships: There may be potential opportunities for internships for selected eligible teams
Award Ceremony
The Top teams will be invited to an exclusive award ceremony where they will be recognized for their outstanding contributions to Enterprise Architecture.
Important Guidelines for Competition Registration
- All the above-mentioned projects are team awards and not individual (student) projects
- Students pursuing management (MBA or equivalent) and engineering (B.Tech/M.Tech or equivalent) degrees are eligible for this competition. You can access the registration form here
- There can be multiple teams from one university. A maximum of ten (10) teams per institution may register for the competition
- The Students and teams who participated in previous editions of the competition are not eligible to participate in the current edition
- Every team shall be assigned one or more industry mentors
- The registration form must be complete with a consent letter from the institute and submitted online no later than March 15, 2026
- Post-registration, it's mandatory to attend guidance and mentor-led project sessions to advance to the next level of the competition
- All teams are strongly urged to stay in the competition and complete all the stages successfully. Their respective universities are encouraged to ensure this
- The information provided in the registration form will be treated with the utmost confidentiality, ensuring your data remains secure indefinitely. We look forward to receiving your registration
- Student teams will be accepted based on the information submitted in the registration form. If misrepresentation of any facts/information is discovered at any stage, the candidacy of the teams will be subject to cancellation