Innovation Policy Platform (audio)

In the last two decades, effectual entrepreneurship, a cognitive-theoretic approach to action in high-uncertainty environments, has been successfully implemented in universities around the world. This approach spells out particular lessons learned by expert entrepreneurs that can be taught in a classroom. In addition to university courses, efforts are under way to create programs for K-12 and in fields outside business, such as the arts, engineering, and social/public sector. For the webinar, Dr. Sarasvathy will elaborate on five specific policy implications based on effectual entrepreneurship. These can be summarized as follows:

Teach entrepreneurship to everyone, not only to potential entrepreneurs

Collect data on exits

Focus on growing the middle class of businesses, not gazelles

Create an experienced entrepreneur corps of mentors

Learn to think about employment differently

Put simply, effectuation enables anyone and everyone to work with things already within their control to co-create a better future. For info on course content and supporting research: effectuation.org

Innovation is largely an urban phenomenon. Some cities fare better than others and have grown to become global staples in innovation.

Others have found their innovative niche and are silent champions. Recently, we have witnessed the growth of tech startup ecosystems, which is impacting innovation in cities. Some cities have started taking advantage of these new entrepreneurs to bring innovation to urban problems and to increase the competitiveness of their local industry. This new phenomena also helps revitalizing urban areas and creating new jobs.

Victor Mulas, ICT Innovation Specialist with the World Bank Group will discuss current success stories and what policy interventions regional and local governments can undertake to unleash its innovative potential leveraging the tech startup ecosystem. He will draw upon illustrious examples from his own work from all parts of the World.

In this podcast, José Guimón provides an overview of how different countries are dealing with regional innovation policy and of the institutions and tools used for national-regional coordination. Drawing on examples from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia, he will discuss policy implications for developing countries, which have decentralized their innovation policies more recently than developed countries, but face more acute challenges with respect to critical mass and institutional capacity.

Tom Nastas, a 25 year Venture Capital veteran, president and founder of Innovative Ventures Inc (IVI), will discuss means to improve financing opportunities to spur innovation and entrepreneurship.He will provide lessons learned from his experience in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Central Asia as a trusted advisor to governments and financial institutions helping them scale venture capital, entrepreneurship, technology creation, and commercialization in emerging markets.