[UgaBYTES] United Nations University - World Institute for Development Economics Research Event

[Karim Kasim]

Dear MENA and global telecentre leaders please find attached information on
this Interesting event on entrepreneurship and Technology taking place in
October. Sustainability has been an issue in our telecentres and as we are
planning for our activities to strengthen telecentre networks and
stakeholders, we should be looking more into different models, ideas, and
researches that link ICT, telecentres and/or technological innovations to
growth and development. It is a long story but lets discuss it a little in
more simple ways here.The UNU WIDER has some interesting publications too,
check it out as a general resource of informationBest regards
K.

http://www.wider.unu.edu/events/project-meetings/en_GB/30-10-2008/

* Entrepreneurship, Technological Innovation, and Development* Event
name WIDER-MERIT
Research Workshop on Entrepreneurship, Technological Innovation, and
Development  Address UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, The Netherlands  Date 30 October
2008 - 31 October 2008 Contact person

Wim Naudé<http://www.wider.unu.edu/aboutus/people/resident-researchers/en_GB/naude-wim/>,
Senior Research Fellow, UNU-WIDER
Adam Szirmai <http://www.merit.unu.edu/about/profile.php?id=752>,
Professional Fellow at UNU-MERIT
Lisa Winkler<http://www.wider.unu.edu/aboutus/people/administration/en_GB/winkler_lisa/>,
Project Assistant, UNU-WIDER



Entrepreneurship can make an important contribution to development by
providing technologies that improve people's productivity and living
standards. While the role of entrepreneurship in technological innovation
has been widely studied in the context of advanced economies, less is known
about entrepreneurship in developing economies. Of particular interest is
the role of entrepreneurs in the quantity, quality, commercialization, and
adoption of technological innovations in developing countries, and the
implications thereof for economic growth, trade, poverty, and inequality.
This joint workshop by the World Institute for Development Economics
Research (UNU-WIDER) and Maastricht  Economic and social Research and
training centre on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) of the United
Nations University (UNU) is intended as a platform for the discussion and
promotion of research in this regard.

Workshop topics include:

   -

   What is the role of entrepreneurship in technological innovation and
   acceleration of economic growth?
   -

   How does this role differ between developed and developing countries?
   -

   What kinds of entrepreneurship are most crucial for successful
   development?
   -

   What incentive structures exist for entrepreneurs in developing countries
   and how are these determined by policies, institutions, finance and
   expectations?
   -

   How do entrepreneurial practices differ between developing countries in
   Asia, Latin America and Africa?
   -

   How do policies, institutions, financial factors, history, and geography
   impact on the riskiness of technological innovation?
   -

   Are science parks, incubators, and university support networks for
   entrepreneurship appropriate models to stimulate entrepreneurial innovation
   in developing countries?
   -

   How can microfinance be tailored to encourage entrepreneurial
   technological innovation?

Papers are invited on the workshop and related topics. Submissions of paper
abstracts before
*30 May 2008*: entrepreneur(at)wider.unu.edu <entrepreneur at wider.unu.edu>.
Abstracts should be accompanied by a CV. All abstracts will be reviewed by a
selection panel. Preference will be given to original  papers since all
selected papers will be considered for a special publication on the topic.
Accepted papers are required by 22 September 2008. UNU-WIDER and UNU-MERIT
may cover travel and accommodation costs of participants whose papers have
been selected, within UN regulations.  There is no registration fee.

The conference is intended for researchers from the academic, government and
development communities

*Maastricht  Economic and social Research and training centre on Innovation
and Technology (UNU-MERIT <http://www.merit.unu.edu/>)* is a joint research
and training centre of United Nations University (UNU) and Maastricht
University, The Netherlands. The joint Institute was created on 1 January
2006 following the integration of the former UNU-Institute for New
Technologies (INTECH) in Maastricht , and the Maastricht Economic Research
Institute on Innovation and Technology, MERIT, at Maastricht University.
UNU-MERIT provides insights into the social, political and economic factors
that drive technological change and innovation. The Centre's research and
training programmes address a broad range of policy questions relating to
the national and international governance of science, technology and
innovation, with a particular focus on the creation, diffusion and access to
knowledge.

For further information about this project, Promoting Entrepreneurial
Capacity , please refer to the research
pages<http://www.wider.unu.edu/research/projects-by-theme/development-and-finance/en_GB/entrepreneurship-and-development/>
.


-- 
Karim A. Kasim
ICTD/Community Access Centers Coordinator
Telecentre.org Knowledge Sharing and Community Content Facilitator-Middle
East and North Africa
Tel: (202)353 42179 (Ext 2179)
Fax: (202)353 41813
Mobile :(20)10 170 8474
Cairo, Egypt
Work: kkasim at mcit.gov.eg
Personal/Consultancy: karimkasim at gmail.com
Academic: kasim at aucegypt.edu,
www.undp.org.eg
www.ictfund.org.eg