Welcome to ‘The Startup State’ - a weekly bulletin from the GEN Policy and Research team highlighting key entrepreneurship news, reports, commentary and features from around the world. As policy announcements and report launches are now slowing for summer, this will be the last newsletter until September.
GEN community news
- GEN Policy has published a deep dive examining employee share ownership schemes. The analysis draws upon nine GEN Atlas case studies of policies from around the world (GEN)
- The Near East Foundation is recruiting an economic development director to be based in Jordan, Lebanon or Iraq (NEF)
News
- India is on track to have at least one registered startup in each of the country’s 785 districts within a year, with only 20-25 districts remaining without a registered startup. Under the government’s Startup India scheme, more than 100,000 startups have been recognized by the government, allowing them to access incentives including tax exemptions and financial support. (India Times)
- Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation has published a white paper detailing the country’s approach to AI regulation, which aims to synchronize with the European AI Act (Ukraine)
- Nepal is to launch a returnee entrepreneurship program to create employment opportunities for returnee migrant workers (Online Radio Nepal)
Research
- Alternative financing for informal businesses to propel youth entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa
This Youth Business International and Somo report recommends microloans, alternative credit scores, and financial literacy support for informal youth-led businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. - Implication of AI ethical policies on Africa innovators and entrepreneurs
This AfriLabs and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation report examines how different ethical frameworks influence AI development and deployment across various African countries and offers recommendations for policymakers to ensure that ethical AI practices align with Africa’s development goals. Related publication: Landscape analysis of AI startups in Africa - The gig economy and the future of work: Global trends and policy directions for non-standard forms of employment
This National Labor Observatory and World Bank report sets out policy recommendations to realize the benefits and minimize the adverse effects of the global rise in non-standard forms of employment.
Comment and analysis
- French angst: Will elections torpedo tech success? (Sara Oversteyns and Bill Echikson, Center for European Policy Analysis)
- Empowering SMEs for digital transformation and innovation: The Italian way (Valentino Valentini, deputy minister, Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy)
- Blame Canada’s productivity ‘emergency’ mostly on slow adoption of innovation (John Ruffolo, co-founder, Council of Canadian Innovators)
- Overregulation threatens the digital economy (Mark Jamison, nonresident senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute)
- Milei’s biggest challenge is to foster the societal consensus that Argentina needs to thrive (Martin Muhleisen, nonresident senior fellow, Atlantic Council GeoEconomics Center)
- Three ways policymakers should provide support to informal entrepreneurs in emerging economies (Prof Saul Estrin, LSE, Dr Maribel Guerrero, Arizona State University and Prof Tomasz Mickiewicz, Aston University)
- Foreign aid can help strengthen the economies of donor countries by boosting business (Marie-Ann Betschinger, HEC Montreal and Olivier Bertrand, FGV/EAESP)
- 10 success factors for implementing e-procurement systems (Dr Rajesh Jumar Shakya, senior procurement specialist, World Bank)
Features
- CNBC: Inside Europe’s tech hubs: France’s AI push puts it on the rise
- Time: How OpenAI’s decision not to operate in China will reshape the Chinese AI scene
- MIT Technology Review: Inside the US government’s brilliantly boring websites
GEN Atlas insights
The GEN Atlas is the world’s largest entrepreneurship policy compendium, featuring over 370 case studies from 70 countries. Using these case studies, we publish Country Deep Dives examining the policies underpinning countries’ entrepreneurial success, Policy Deep Dives comparing different countries’ approaches to common policy challenges, and Atlas Spotlights highlighting the best examples of policies under a broad theme. Recent highlights:
- Atlas spotlights: Finance
- Policy deep dives: Startup visas | Youth entrepreneurship | Supporting ethnic minority entrepreneurs
- Country deep dives: South Africa | France | The Netherlands
To suggest content for inclusion in future editions of 'The Startup State', please email matt@genglobal.org.
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