During Global Entrepreneurship Week this November, the Global Entrepreneurship Network is shining a spotlight on Ireland and its emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Ireland has celebrated entrepreneurs and the champions that support them since 2011, and this year GEW 2016 will be bigger and better than ever, with the official finale of the week – the Startup Nations Summit – held in Cork, the capital of southwest Ireland, on Nov. 18-20.
The Startup Nations Summit features startup-savvy policy advisers and government officials from more than 60 countries to collaborate on innovative new public policy and program approaches to enable high-impact entrepreneurship. Cork Innovates and Startup Ireland, powered by Connect Ireland, have worked with GEN to organize the Summit in Cork.
“I would like to applaud the Irish government for welcoming Startup Nations delegates into their country, and showing the rest of the world their robust, vibrant startup community that has truly blossomed in the past few years,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network.
“We’re also excited to formally launch SNAP, which provides a unique opportunity for policymakers to create strong startup environments around the world, working to build a foundation for entrepreneurs to successfully start and scale, and then move out of the way and let entrepreneurs do what they do best – create, innovate and disrupt.”
This is the first time the summit will be held on the European continent.
During the Summit, GEN will recognize select global policymakers with Startup Nations Awards for their contributions to helping entrepreneurs. The Summit will also serve as the launch of the Startup Nations Atlas of Policies (SNAP) to help experts around the world share the most effective public policy approaches to helping entrepreneurs.
GEN Ireland, a recently launched national affiliate, is taking the lead in recruiting partner organizations to conduct events, activities and competitions throughout GEW to help aspiring Irish entrepreneurs unleash their ideas and take their startups to the next level – connecting them with potential collaborators, mentors and even investors.
One of the brightest highlights of events occurring as part of GEW Ireland is the Startup Gathering and its “Startup Island,” a two-day intensive bootcamp to help nascent entrepreneurs start and scale – with a twist. The Startup Island event will be held on Spike Island at a decommissioned prison, and will include a series of speakers and programs to help entrepreneurs grow their ventures.
Partner events may continually be added to the website between now and the end of GEW in November. If you or your organization plans to hold an event during Global Entrepreneurship Week, please add it to the list of global events by visiting gew.co and clicking on ‘Create Event.’