The ITU/Potraz event we discussed yesterday entered Day 2 and was all about mapping the digital innovation ecosystem. Don’t worry, you’ll understand what that means when we get to what was mapped.
The goal was to map out the roles and actions of stakeholders at each stage of the start-up’s lifecycle. Feel free to disagree with what was mapped out and share your own opinion in the comments section below.
How it works
The group had to decide whether there was adequate evidence and activities (green), some evidence and activities (yellow) or inadequate evidence and activities (red) when assessing the maturity of the ecosystem.
We won’t be able to go through every matter but here’s what the group agreed was the case:
Entrepreneurs
- Is there interest in becoming an entrepreneur in the ecosystem? – Some evidence and activities 🟡
- Are innovators discovering relevant problems to work on? – Inadequate evidence and activities 🔴
- Do entrepreneurs have the skills they need to develop strong business skills? – Inadequate evidence and activities 🔴
- Do entrepreneurs support one another in the ecosystem? – Inadequate evidence and activities 🔴
Finance
- Is funding available for innovators to do research? – Some evidence and activities 🟡 [On this one I felt it should have been a dark shade of red however some in academia swore they are swimming in research funding so we settled on ‘some evidence.’
- Is high-risk investment available for early-phase entrepreneurs and startups? – Inadequate evidence and activities 🔴
- Are SMEs able to get support through traditional investment and loans? – Some evidence and activities 🟡 (I would have put a red on it but turns out there is little evidence of this)
Entrepreneurial support networks
- Are there events that gather, connect and inspire innovators? – Some evidence and activities 🟡
- Can innovators join events to validate or develop their ideas? [Hackathons and competitions] – Some evidence and activities 🟡
- Are there programs to support, guide and scale startups? – Inadequate evidence and activities 🔴
Private sector
- Does the private sector provide services and support to developing businesses? – Some evidence and activities 🟡
- Are there efforts from the private sector to ensure that needed skills are available? – Some evidence and activities 🟡
- I would have put red on both. Shows just how little I know about what’s going on or maybe it shows that we had private sector people influence a yellow to make their sector look good.
Academia
- Are universities providing an environment and community to inspire entrepreneurs? – Some evidence and activities 🟡 [Really?]
- Are graduates coming out of universities with the skills needed by innovative businesses? – Some evidence and activities 🟡 [This was a huge red from me, judging from the conversations I have had with some entrepreneurs. However, how can you argue with people who are actually employing those graduates who are saying there is some evidence]
Public sector
- Are there provisions or exemptions in the tax code to support entrepreneurship? – Inadequate evidence and activities 🔴
- Is public procurement supporting innovation without distorting markets? – Some evidence and activities 🟡 [Yellow?]
Do note that these are but a fraction of the stuff that was looked at. I chose the ones that I found intriguing and the ones that I was surprised to find myself disagreeing with others on.
So, that’s why it may look like I objected to most of the items. The opposite is actually true. There was consensus on many items. And Reds made up half of the answers, there were a couple of Oranges, many Yellows and no Greens.
I can’t wait to hear what you guys think of this. Please do share in the comments section.
Day 3 will be solution day. The group shall brainstorm solutions and with some of the actual people responsible and capable of implementing said solutions, I have hopes that it will be a productive day. We will update you on how it goes.
Also read:
Potraz and the UN’s ITU hosting a co-creation workshop to assess how Zim can promote innovation
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What’s your take?