| DAY 1 |
NOVEMBER 6 |
| 15.00 - 16:00 |
Opening Ceremony |
|
Introductions:
Rachid Benmessaoud (Operations Advisor, World Bank India Country Office)
Speakers:
- N. Srinivasan (Vice-President, FICCI)
- V.S. Ramamurthy (Former Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, India)
- Dr. J. Geeta Reddy (Minister for Major Industries, Tourism, Sugar, Commerce and Export Promotion, Government of Andhra Pradesh, India)
- Mohsen A. Khalil (Director, Global Information & Communication Technologies, World Bank Group)
- H.K. Mittal (Member Secretary, National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board, India)
|
| 16:00 - 16:30 |
Welcoming Remarks
Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, India) |
| 16:30 - 17:30 |
infoDev Case Study Video Presentations and Panel Discussion |
| 18:30 - 19:00 |
Audio Visual Presentation: "Destination Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh" |
    
|
| DAY 2 |
NOVEMBER 7 - OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENEGS, STAKEHOLDERS |
| 09:00 - 09:30 |
Keynote Address
Kiran Karnik (President, NASSCOM) |
| 09:30 - 11:00 |
Plenary 1: Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges in ICT, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Information and communication technologies are changing rapidly, creating new opportunities for connectivity and rapid use of information and knowledge. Today, global markets are more inter-linked, creating opportunities for collaboration across national boundaries. These trends create new opportunities and threats, putting increased pressures on governments and enterprises to adapt and innovate. What are the new opportunities created for developing countries and firms? How can developing countries maximize the benefits and reach of these trends across their economies and societies? What key challenges will they face as they seek to do so?
Chair: Mohsen A. Khalil (Director, Global Information & Communication Technologies, World Bank Group)
Panelists:
|
| 11:30 - 13:00 |
Plenary 2: ICT, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Practice: Perspectives from Entrepreneurs and Industry Leaders
What impact can the effective application of ICT, innovation and entrepreneurship have on the competitiveness of firms and the local and national economy? What challenges have these technology entrepreneurs and industry leaders faced as they sought to promote the nexus of ICT, innovation and entrepreneurship? What lessons can be learned? What are the key ingredients of success?
Chair: Ashok Jhunjhunwala (Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, India)
Panelists:
|
| 14:30 - 16:00 |
Plenary 3: Facilitating ICT-enabled Innovation & Entrepreneurship: Who are the key stakeholders? What is the role of business incubators?
What are the key elements of an enabling environment for ICT-enabled innovation and entrepreneurship? What roles can governments, donor agencies, financial institutions, academia, associations and enterprises play to create the optimal environment for innovation in ICT access, applications and services starting and scaling up a business? What role do incubators play? How can business incubation be effective in creating a vibrant private sector, and how can it complement other mechanisms of support to business creation? Is public sector financing of business incubation justified?
Chair: Estelle Sowah (BusyInternet, Ghana)
Panelists:
|
| 16:30 - 18:00 |
Plenary 4: Incubator Networks: Global and Regional Perspectives
The Regional Networks present the core findings from their regional workshops, and their current thinking on the strategic directions for the regional networks.
Chair: Seth Ayers (infoDev)
Speakers:
|
|
| DAY 3 |
NOVEMBER 8: SCALING UP ICT-ENABLED INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP |
| 09:00 - 09:30 |
Keynote Address
Honourable Janat Mukwaya (Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Uganda) |
| 09:30 - 10:30 |
Plenary 1: Financing Technology Entrepreneurs
What financial mechanisms both public and private are used to foster growth of technology entrepreneurs and small businesses? How do financiers evaluate businesses, particularly technology businesses, and measure risk/reward of prospective deals in developing countries? Can good practice and lessons be drawn from past and existing initiatives to address this challenge in developing countries?
Chair: Paul Asel (Principal Investment Officer, IFC)
Panelists:
|
| 11:00 - 12:30 |
Parallel Sessions |
| |
Session I: Introduction to Financing: The Investor's Perspective
This session will offer insights from investors on how they evaluate businesses, particularly technology businesses, and measure risk/reward of prospective deals in developing countries? What type of financing instruments do investors use and how may they impact a firm's operation? How can an incubator help its tenants become more attractive to potential investors?
Discussants:
- Deepak Amin (CEO, Covelix, United States)
- Srini Raju (CEO, iLabs, India)
|
| |
Session II: Designing and Operating Sustainable Business Incubators: An Incubator's Life-Cycle
This session will explore the business incubation life-cycle from conception to implementation to maturity. What is the incubator lifecycle? What should be the priorities for new business incubators - Facilities? Services? Location? What methodology should be used to identify clients and understanding their needs? How do you manage the graduation and exit of incubates? What are effective marketing strategies? How can ICTs be leveraged to attract and service clients, improve management, and achieve results?
Chair: Valerie Tappin (Technology Innovation Centre, Jamaica)
Panelists:
|
| |
Session III: The Role of Incubators in Enabling Innovation and New Business Creation in Poor and Rural Communities
How can business incubators deliver services to entrepreneurs in poor communities? What special challenges does business incubation in poor communities pose? Which models and types of services work most effectively? What capacities, including “virtual incubation”, should the incubator have to be successful? How do you measure the success of an incubator operating in a very poor community?
Chair: Cesar Yammal, Argentina
Panelists:
|
| 14:00 - 15:30 |
Parallel Sessions |
| |
Session I: Entrepreneurship, Training and Linkages with Educational Institutions
What is the role of education, training and adult learning programs in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship? Can entrepreneurship be fostered through educational institutions and through other forms of adult learning? How do you best set up a curriculum and educational environment conducive to nurturing entrepreneurs? What should be done, and has been successfully done, to support entrepreneurship training in a variety of forms, both within educational institutions and more broadly (including private-sector provision of such training?)
Chair: Samuel Otim, Directorate fore ICT Support, Makerere University
Panelists:
|
| |
Session II: Sustainability: Business Models, Pricing and Financing
What are the techniques an incubator can apply to become financially sustainable? Should financial sustainability always be a goal for an incubator? When do you charge for the services you provide? How do you decide on pricing? What may be the most appropriate way to finance growth depending on your business model?
Chair: Peter Harman (UK Business Incubation)
Panelists:
|
| |
Session III: Incubator Service Offerings: Identifying and Meeting Client Needs
This session will explore the array of services that business incubators provide that are essential to innovation and business creation in developing countries and how those services are defined, marketed and delivered. What non-financial tools and services do entrepreneurs need? What are the specific needs of technology entrepreneurs? How business incubators assist clients in accessing market opportunities? How do you decide what services to provide and not to provide?
Chair: Charles Kwesiga, UIRI, Uganda
Panelists:
|
| 16:00 - 16:30 |
Global and Regional Networks: What Can iDISC Do For You?
Presenter: Ellen Olafsen (infoDev) |
| 16:30 - 18:00 |
Regional Breakout Groups: Regional Action Plan Discussions |
| 18:30 - 21:00 |
Reception and Dinner at the Indian School of Business |
|
| DAY 4 |
NOVEMBER 9 - MANAGING FOR RESULTS |
| 09:00 - 10:30 |
Plenary 1: Impacts and Lessons of the Global Incubation Network
The session will draw lessons from incubator managers from across the globe and infoDev's Monitoring, Evaluation and Impact Assessment (MEIA), a large-scale international evaluation of its business incubator initiative. The monitoring and evaluation methodology and emerging benchmarks for evaluating a business incubators performance will also be presented.
Chair: Vivek Chaudhry, infoDev
Panelists:
infoDev MEIA Team |
| 11:00 - 12:30 |
Parallel Sessions |
| |
Session I: Managing for Results: Effective Monitoring and Evaluation Techniques
Monitoring and evaluation is most effective when it is viewed as a strategic tool. This session will present techniques for self- monitoring and evaluating the performance of your business incubator in order for continuous growth and development.
Chair: Manuel Bello (LATU, Uruguay)
Panelists:
|
| |
Session II: Improving Your Business Environment Through Public and Private Partnerships: Strategies that Work
This session will explore concrete strategies for improving your local business environment, including regulations, taxes and ICT costs, access and quality. Session presenters will discuss how they have positively impacted their business environments and how private and public partnerships can create conducive business environments for innovation and entrepreneurship.
Chair: Stefan Schandera (Germany)
Panelists:
|
| |
Session III: Developing a Robust ICT Sector: The Role of Technology Parks, Business Incubators and Clusters
Developing a sustainable ICT sector is a complex challenge that is highly dependent on local circumstances and resources. Many countries have made costly investments in facilities such as call centers and technology parks with mixed results. This session will present lessons from across the globe on establishing and growing a local ICT sector.
Chair: Richard White, Manager of Incubator Development, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, New Zealand
Panelists:
|
| 14:00 - 14:30 |
Plenary 2: Sustainability: Resource Strategies and Donor Outreach
Presenters:
|
| 14:30 - 16:00 |
Regional Breakout Groups: Regional action plans and modalities |
| 16:30 - 17:30 |
Thematic Breakout Groups
Building on the earlier regional break sessions, which will focus on defining the action plans for each region and the modalities for implementation, this session is designed to explore specific thematic issues that are common across the global network of business incubators. These breakouts will form the basis for future dialogue on each thematic issue and how these issues could be addressed by leveraging iDISC and the regional networks. |
|
| DAY 5 |
NOVEMBER 10 - REGIONAL ACTION PLANS AND NEXT STEPS |
| 09:00 - 11:00 |
Plenary 1: Presentation of Regional Action Plans
Regional representatives report on the objectives for their regional networks and how the networks will practically implement their action plans noting key milestones for the next six months and ensuring sustainability.
Chair: H.K. Mittal (Chairman, National Science and Technology Development Board, India)
Speakers: Regional Incubator Representatives
|
| 11:30 - 12:00 |
Plenary 2: The Global Network and the Role of infoDev |
| 12:00 - 12:30 |
Forum Recommendations and Closing Ceremony |
| 14:00 - 17:00 |
Industry Site Visits |
| 17:00 - 19:00 |
Reception and Dinner at ICRISAT |