In two months, thousands of startup champions from roughly 175 countries will gather in Milan, Italy for the Global Entrepreneurship Congress. Anchored by the Start+Scale Forum and theResearch+Policy Summit, the GEC includes dozens of related parallel events conducted by leading global organizations actively supporting the spread of an entrepreneurial culture. Featured throughout those sessions and events during the week-long Congress are a number of programs and initiatives emerging from the network that has driven the massive growth of Global Entrepreneurship Week over the past seven years.
The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) represents startup community leaders, researchers, policymakers, educators, investors and of course, entrepreneurs themselves—from young dreamers to experienced founders.
The following GEN programs and efforts will be in the spotlight in Milan:
- GEW Annual Meeting: The host organizations that run Global Entrepreneurship Week campaigns in 157 (and still growing) countries gather for their annual meeting each year at the GEC. It is a chance to review the successes of the previous year and collaborate around plans for the coming November.
- Startup Open: Breezometer, an Israeli startup that is the most recent winner of the Startup Open, will be featured during the Start + Scale Forum at the GEC.
- Global Entrepreneurship Index: Released in November during GEW, this new index measures the health of entrepreneurship ecosystems in 130 countries. The leaders responsible for compiling the Index will be on hand at the Research + Policy Summit for a masterclass to discuss how the data can be used to identify initiatives and interventions that target a country’s most critical areas--as well as share plans to expand the Index in the year ahead.
- Global Entrepreneurship Research Network: This coalition of institutions funding research in the field are focused on developing the next generation of entrepreneurship research. Milan marks the second annual meeting held as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Congress where members share lessons and knowledge to establish open, standardized data resources.
- Challenge Cup: This year-round startup competition takes place in 16 cities across 11 countries to identify the most promising startups solving the biggest challenges in four categories – education, energy, health and cities.
- Global Enterprise Registration: Launched just prior to GEW 2014, this partnership with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development provides a portal that promotes the use and improvement of business registration services for entrepreneurs worldwide. The team responsible for the portal will demonstrate i by allowing easy access to existing online systems and by facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practices among governments.
- Creative Business Cup and Get in the Ring: These two live pitch competitions have been at the center of GEW for several years and provide a global stage for startups to prove themselves. These and other global picks will be demonstrated and discussed for those looking to compete--or introduce the competition to startups in their country.
- Startup Nations: An 'unconference' gathering where a group of policymakers and program leaders share ideas at on what is working in their countries and explore regulatory changes and other policy ideas to promote new firm formation.
- Global Entrepreneurship Survey: The GEN team is releasing a report on the results of its survey of more than 2,500 entrepreneurs around the world as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. The survey report is intended to help inform future policy decisions affecting new and young firms.
2015 promises to continue the evolution of this network—driven by the communities and countries that celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week. Other policies and programs within the Global Entrepreneurship Network will be addressed in the coming months and at the GEC. Stay tuned for additional information on the Angels Summit, Startup Experience, the Global Entrepreneurship Library, GES Youth and more.
The Global Entrepreneurship Congress is scheduled from March 16-20 at the Milano Congressi.Registration is open and free to all delegates.