Chair on
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in the Mediterranean and MENA Countries
Chair on
The Chair is aimed at offering higher education teaching programs at different educational levels (master courses, Ph.D. seminars and courses, post-graduate and lifelong learning programs), and specific support activities and laboratories aimed at creating the conditions and capabilities required for the creation of Local Innovation Systems (LIS) in our partner countries. Moreover, it will provide access to opportunities for female and male students, faculty, professionals, managers, executives and entrepreneurs originating and living in the Mediterranean and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries.
The Chair’s key objectives are consistent with the UNESCO Constitutional goals to achieve “…sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information” as well as UNESCO Global Priorities i.e., Africa and Gender Equality. More precisely, the Chair is related to more domains and disciplines of UNESCO’s priorities, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the national and regional development.
The project has the long-term goal of contributing to build the capacities needed to develop Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems in the Mediterranean and MENA areas. The establishment of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystems implies a multidisciplinary idea of development and requires the joint effort and cooperation of a community of different actors including universities, government, firms and financial institutions. The joint effort is directed towards the creation of innovative hubs which, in virtue of a spillover effect, are able to drive the economies of entire regions to ultimately smoothen the development divide within and among countries.
Despite 36.6% of women in this region having the desire to undertake entrepreneurial projects, only 4.1% are engaged in nascent entrepreneurial activities, and 4.5% are employed in established businesses.
Building innovation, technology challenges and entrepreneurship capacities by:
– establishing specific teaching programs for the transfer of knowledge and knowhow in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship addressing students and professionals in the Mediterranean and other MENA countries;
– establishing specific training programs for women in MENA countries in the fields of Entrepreneurship and Innovation to improve the levels of female employability as well as female entrepreneurial orientation in those areas;
– establishing specific training programs to strengthen teaching skills in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship by designing and transferring new forms of teaching (e.g., practical training, collaborative learning);
– sharing the experience of KNOWTRACK accelerator and SLIOB observatory to contribute to the implementation of similar initiatives at the local level.
Increasing awareness about economics and business potential in Mediterranean and MENA countries by:
– organizing seminars, events and conferences with a special focus on Mediterranean and MENA regions’ economics and business scenarios;
– disseminating research activities on the dynamics of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystems, and on the benefits of women entrepreneurship for Mediterranean and MENA countries’ potential in terms of business and innovation.
Ranked third among the best Italian management departments, DISAQ has always been committed to disseminating an academic model that adds value to communities and promotes their economic and cultural development.
Through synergies among the academic, institutional, and business worlds, DISAQ is now a model capable of seizing innovation opportunities at both national and regional levels.
For the second consecutive five-year period, DISAQ got by ANVUR the prestigious award of a Department of Excellence for the quality of research and scientific, organizational, and educationa
towards the transfer of new knowledge in the field of innovative business ecosystems, crucial for enhancing regional innovation capabilities and employment opportunities for women residing in MENA countries.
1
The Master Courses on Innovation & Entrepreneurship and International Management focused on topics on management, innovation and entrepreneurship will contribute to acquiring the capabilities for developing new business ideas in a lean and effective way and for assessing the costs and business risks related to the introduction of new technologies.
By introducing the attendants to the most-debated topics in international business and innovation management, will contribute to increase the capabilities for assessing and facing the major challenges facing management and entrepreneurs related to sustainability, inclusiveness and the introduction of disruptive technologies.
Aim to provide capabilities to trigger a social change process in terms of innovation, technology and disparity. In addition, to develop capacities for the implementation of digital transformation and the ideation and evaluation on social innovation, seminars equip women with the capability to become agents of local development, consequently focusing activity on public speaking, on communicating effectively to different interlocutors (i.e association, university and local actors) and on influencing capabilities.
2
Concerning discussions with experts and practitioners facilitate the development of a critical sense and a practical approach to resolute ecosystems issues (i.e failure of Government – University-Industry partnerships, technology policies, technological entrepreneurship or regional economic development); it enables capabilities to design smart regional policies; develop leadership and decision-making skills and the capability to manage different interests of stakeholders; co-design projects and programs with multiple partners from diverse organizations; to identify win-win strategies among groups of civil society, industrial, public and academic partners.
Labs to improve women employability. The labs will be built to improve women’s competencies in the field of business with a specific focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.
The Bootcamp will be organized to trigger creativity through an actionlearning approach.
3
In order to develop acceleration capabilities, the Chair will support the partner countries in setting up accelerators for start-ups in cooperation with the Chair’s partner Universities.
The Chair will facilitate the access to the business matching platform (designed by Region of Campania) to the partner universities from the Mediterranean and other MENA countries to increase the market development capability of local startups.
In order to develop the capability of applying inductive (extract frameworks observing phenomena) and abductive (identifying theory or frameworks to interprets phenomena) approaches for the analysis of business, innovation dynamics and local innovation systems, the Chair will support the partner countries in setting up the observatory Chair’s partner Universities.
Conferences and events in the field of Ecosystems & Entrepreneurship contribute in increasing the capability for developing higher levels of skills, for creating a community of researchers, for applying collaboration mechanisms and techniques of information sharing, for building practice-oriented collaborations across sectors and disciplines.
Sede centrale:
Via Amm. F. Acton, 38
80133 Napoli (NA)
P.IVA 01877320638
C.F. 80018240632
Copyright © 2023 Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope - All Rights Reserved
