Background
2nd Global Forum on Business Incubation 2006
"Renewed Commitment to Fostering ICT-enabled Enterprise Development "
2nd Global Forum on Business Incubation: Empowering Economies Through ICT-enabled Innovation and Entrepreneurship. infoDev's 2nd Global Forum on Business Incubation took place in India November 6-10, 2006. The event highlighted the commitment of infoDev and its Global Network of Incubators' to foster ICT-enabled enterprise development in the developing world; solidified the Regional Networks of incubators; and called on infoDev to play an increasing role in capacity building, knowledge-sharing, monitoring and evaluation, and awareness-raising.
Photo: infoDev
More than 300 participants from 60 countries gathered in Hyderabad India to learn more about how to most effectively promote ICT-enabled entrepreneurship, and to increase their capacity through networking and exploration of partnerships.
"We need to extend the benefit of IT and Internet to fuel innovation in traditional businesses...We need to break the myth that technology only serves the rich and we need to bring the benefit to the large section of the society" said the Chief Minister of the State of Hyderabad in his opening speech.
Dr. Reddy, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Sugar followed, stating that "to keep pace with paradigm shift in the economy, Technology Business Incubators have emerged as a powerful tool for nurturing technology and knowledge based enterprise and generation of value added employment."
Following the opening, the 2nd Global Forum was comprised of panel discussions with distinguished speakers from the private and public sector and academia, and parallel sessions where practitioners discussed key challenges, opportunities and lessons from their work in promoting ICT-enabled entrepreneurship. Along side this program the Regional Networks from Africa, Asia, Europe and Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean discussed the priorities and action plans for their regional network activities.
Also showcased at the Forum were video case studies of infoDev supported incubators Busy Internet in Ghana, ITCP in Brazil, TRECSTEP in India and CRC Incubator in Vietnam (see below).
Zhu Hongyan from the Tianjin Women's Business Incubator in China said "in Hyderabad we had the opportunity to interact with the Vietnamese CRC Incubator. They also expressed an interest in learning more about the issues associated with women entrepreneurs, while TWBI in turn can learn from our Vietnamese counterpart on how to garner private sector support. The Forum has been educational not only from the formal program, but also through the networking opportunities."
Similar exchanges continued to take place throughout the Forum, connecting organizations from different countries, joined by their common interest to promote ICT-enabled economic opportunities.
Photo: infoDev
Participants at the 2nd Global Forum on Business Incubation
The five day event ended with a Statement from the Participants as well as presentations of the Regional Network Action Plans (see below). Clear common threads among them were the call for increased capacity building for incubators, awareness-raising among policymakers, and international knowledge-sharing.
For the second time, the Global Forum on Business Incubation was co-hosted by infoDev and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the government of India. Upon the presentation of the regional action plans, DST announced its intention to help fund the Asia regional network of incubators. For the second time, the Global Forum on Business Incubation was co-hosted by infoDev and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the government of India. Upon the presentation of the regional action plans, DST announced its intention to help fund the Asia regional network of incubators.
The Global Forum on Business Incubation forms part of infoDev's Incubator Initiative, an Initiative started in 2002 to facilitate ICT-enabled innovation and entrepreneurship in developing countries. The 2nd Global Forum marked a milestone for the Initiative, and the outcomes of the Forum, along side that of the recently concluded evaluation of the Initiative, will form the basis for the next phase of work in this area.
Related Articles
Forum Agenda and Presentations
Business Incubation Case Study Videos
Recommendations and Regional Action Plans
infoDev's Incubator Initiative
infoDev Incubator Support Center
3rd Global Forum on Business Incubation 2009
"Innovation & Entrepreneurship"
The 3rd Global Forum on Business Incubation will be held in Florianopolis, Brazil on October 26-30, 2009. This new date and location enables both partners to integrate the 3rd infoDev Global Forum with ANPROTEC's 19th Annual National Seminar on Entrepreneurship and Incubation.
In September 2008, infoDev established a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Brazil (MCT), the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (SEBRAE), and the Brazilian National Association of Science Parks and Business Incubators (ANPROTEC). Through this partnership, Brazil joined infoDev's Donors Committee and announced its intention to host the 3rd infoDev Global Forum on Business Incubation in 2009 with the title Innovation and Venture Creation for Inclusive Development.
infoDev and Brazil had originally planned to hold the Global Forum in Brasilia this May. However, a unique opportunity presented itself to integrate the Global Forum with ANPROTEC's 19th Brazilian National Seminar on Science Parks and Business Incubation which will bring together a wide audience of Brazilian incubators, policymakers, entrepreneurs and practitioners under the theme Investment and Internationalisation - Paths to Innovate and Grow. Both partners believe that by aligning the 3rd Global Forum with ANPROTEC's National Seminar, the Forum will offer all participants greater opportunities for training, knowledge sharing and networking.
Florianopolis is a growing hub for technology and tourism industry development in Brazil, which makes it a particularly opportune location for the 3rd Global Forum. As a result of the rapid influx and development of private companies since the late 1990s, and its reputation as one of the most innovative cities in Brazil, this "Silicon Valley of Brazil" was recently voted as one of the Ten Most Dynamic Cities of the World by Newsweek.
The 3rd infoDev Global Forum 2009 website will be launched shortly to provide further information about the program and participation. Please see the attached flyer for currently available details.
Please subscribe to the iDISC monthly newsletter by adding your e-mail address to the "Stay informed" link on the iDISC homepage to receive information about Global Network developments including Global Forum updates.
Information about the 2nd Global Forum on Business Incubation held in India in 2006 can be found here.
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