Research Update Centre for Regional Economic and Enterprise Development (CREED)
www.sheffield.ac.uk/creed
Training European ICT entrepreneurs Sheffield University Management School hosted a kick-off meeting for the ‘Startify7’ project in January 2015, led by the CREED team. This exciting two-year Horizon 2020 project is a collaboration of 11 partners across eight countries across in Europe to support a new generation of ICT entrepreneurs. The project is backed by the European Commission and over €1.3million worth of funding. The partners will co-design and deliver seven thematic ICT training summer academies in 2015 and 2016. The summer academies will be delivered in Italy, Germany, Spain, Greece, Poland, the Netherlands and the UK, with Sheffield playing host to the first academy on Digital Health in July 2015. The other academies to be held this year are on Cyber Security in Trento (Italy) and the Internet of Things in Nuremberg (Germany). Events will be supported by a range of high profile entrepreneurs and experts to support and mentor the students to develop enterprising skills and entrepreneurial ideas. The project is part of the European Commission’s response to the comparatively small number of ICT start-ups across Europe and the untapped potential for growth in this sector. Principal investigator at CREED, DR TIM VORLEY, said: “The project team brings a wealth of expertise and experience which will see Startify7 make a meaningful contribution to supporting young ICT entrepreneurs across Europe.” The project builds on the ICT2B project led by DR VORLEY and CREED colleague DR NICK WILLIAMS, and is part of the wider European Start-Up Hub initiative.
Startify7 utilises a lean training approach that makes the project distinct, as students will actively develop entrepreneurial ideas through team challenges and group tasks. DR ROBERT WAPSHOTT added: “What makes Startify7 different is our lean and dynamic approach towards facilitating entrepreneurial learning. The two-week long academies will be intensive and enjoyable, supporting young entrepreneurs to thrive in the dynamic environment facing ICT start-ups today.” The three 2015 academies are currently planning exciting activities and inputs and all partners are working develop this opportunity for the young ICT entrepreneurs of the future. If you are interested or want more information about the Startify7 project or summer academies, contact Kate Penney by emailing startify7@shef.ac.uk and follow us on Twitter: @startify7
Startify7 partners are; University of Sheffield, Associazione Trento RISE, Friederich-Alexander University, University of Almeria, South East European Research Center, University of Twente, University of Economics in Katowice, European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs, UnternehmerTUM GmbH, Europe Unlimited SA, i4G. The 2015 academies are in Sheffield, UK (Digital Health Care), Trento, Italy (Cyber Security), and Nuremberg, Germany (Cyber-Physical-Systems and the Internet of Things). 2016 academies are in Almeria, Spain (Focused Industrial Simulations), Thessaloniki, Greece (Games), Katowice, Poland (Next Generation Enterprise Information Systems) and Enschede, Netherlands (Social Enterprise and Networks).
Re-visioning the future of Sheffield: Sheffield 2035 CREED has been facilitating the Sheffield Executive Board to create a vision statement for the future of Sheffield, so as to guide strategic planning. This collaborative working has sought to enhance the evidence-base, develop more in-depth understanding, and facilitate the development of strategic perspectives on the medium to long-term futures which might shape and influence the future of Sheffield. The aim of ‘The Sheffield 2035 Project’ has been to enable the Sheffield Executive Board to adopt a long-term strategic approach to the development of the city. To achieve this, the intention has been to facilitate some scenario-informed strategic visioning of what Sheffield should look like in 2035, and to formulate options of how the Board might influence and shape desired outcomes in the medium to long term of five to 20 years in the future. The project has three key elements: scenario informed visioning; backcasting based strategising; and a participatory approach supported by external inputs.
PUBLICATIONS Williams, N. and Vorley, T. “Economic Resilience and Entrepreneurship: Some lessons from the Sheffield City Region.” Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, forthcoming Williams, N. and Vorley T. (2014) “Institutional asymmetry: How formal and informal institutions affect entrepreneurship in Bulgaria” International Small Business Journal, forthcoming Fotopoulos, G., 2014, On the spatial stickiness of U.K. new firm formation rates, Journal of Economic Geography 14 (3), 651-679. Williams, C.C. and Martinez-Perez, A. (2014) “Is the informal economy an incubator for new enterprise creation? A gender perspective”, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Vol. 20, No.1, pp. 4-19. Mallett, O. and Wapshott, R. “Making sense of self-employment in late career: Understanding the identity work of olderpreneurs”, Work, Employment & Society, forthcoming Wapshott, R. and Mallett, O. “Managing Human Resources in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises”. ISBE/Routledge, forthcoming
Policy brief for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) As part of the OECD/European Commission programme on ‘inclusive entrepreneurship’, PROFESSOR COLIN C. WILLIAMS was commissioned to produce a background paper on informal sector entrepreneurship, as the basis for an OECD policy briefing on this topic.
TEACHING AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
DR ROBERT WAPSHOTT has won the Early Career Senate Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.