G20's Young Entrepreneurs are Increasingly Interested in Digital Technologies but not Happy With Their Nations' Innovation Development Policies

• Accenture released Entrepreneurial Innovation: how to unleash a key source of growth and jobs in the G20 countries, commissioned by the G20 Youth Entrepreneurship Alliance;
• Ernst & Young presented Avoiding a Lost Generation, a white paper that analyzes the challenges and issues facing young entrepreneurs around the world.

"Young entrepreneurs are digital entrepreneurs who know that technology goes beyond geographic and sectorial boundaries and helps them rapidly scale their businesses to reach markets that, until recently, only large organizations could touch," said Accenture's Bruno Berthon. "These entrepreneurs are in the best position to accelerate the move to mass customization and to create entirely new categories of products and services through technology. It is vital that policy makers understand that, for young entrepreneurs, all markets are de facto emerging markets and that small digital enterprises have choices as to where they locate and do business. They are also an important part of achieving economic inclusion and resilience at both individual and community levels".

Maria Pinelli, Ernst & Young's Global Vice-Chair of Strategic Growth Markets: "Our report 'Avoiding a lost generation' highlights key imperatives for G20 governments to better support entrepreneurs and solve problems of growing unemployment among young people. The 1,000 young entrepreneurs we surveyed across the G20 highlighted that despite relative optimism about their economic future and their own ability to create new jobs, there was broad consensus that greater support was needed to deal with current challenges, including access to funding, support and reducing red tape. When asked about their main frustrations, 73% say access to funding remains difficult in their countries. 51% of entrepreneurs would also like to see government programs that provide education, funding and raised profiles, which they believe could have a big impact.

Information about Moscow and the whole of Russia was presented at the Summit, too. Alexei Komissarov, Head of the Moscow Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship: "The potential to develop an entrepreneurship environment is yet to be fully utilized. In Moscow, medium and small businesses, microbusinesses and individual entrepreneurs provide about 2 million jobs, around one-third of all jobs in Moscow. In Russia, small businesses need a lot of assistance in terms of access to funding, in educational programs, in creating conditions for innovative business development; but above everything else, it is essential that entrepreneurship should be made more popular. This is one of the most effective tools to increase the small business share in the gross regional product and engage a larger number of residents in it."

Victor Sedov, President of the Center for Entrepreneurship, a founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance from Russia states: "The development of youth entrepreneurship and human capital is the main factor in innovative economic evolution and improvement. The communique recommendations are indicative of the problematic issues shared by all the economies of the Alliance. The economy is undergoing structural changes, with a tendency towards individualized production: creating new products designed for a specific consumer and using new innovative approaches. The role of small businesses is growing - young people are more susceptible to innovations. This requires the skills of running your own business as well as subject-related knowledge. Regretfully, our level of training in basic entrepreneurship and risk management skills in learning institutions' curricula leaves much to be desired, and the number of young people wishing to start up their own business is very small. What is required are changes on a strategic level, shaping the right entrepreneurial culture in addition to fundamental education."

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For reference:

G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit is an international three-day forum uniting young entrepreneurs of G20 nations. Its goal is to help establish new business connections, exchange experience and build dynamic companies; assist in expanding the dialog between the key members of the ecosystem on a local, national and international level; raise awareness of the key role played by entrepreneurs in introducing innovations, creating new jobs, enhancing nations' economic growth and competitiveness; and inspire the current and future generations of entrepreneurs. The G20 YEA 2013 Summit is sponsored by the Government of Moscow represented by the Department for Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship, the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance represented by its Russian member, the Center for Entrepreneurship, supported by MSP Bank, OAO RVK, Opora Rossii, Delovaya Rossiya, and the Russian Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh). Previous G20 YEA Summits were held in Italy, Canada, France, Mexico.  http://www.g20yeasummit.com

Center for Entrepreneurship, The Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE) is an entrepreneurship development organization based in Moscow, with centers in St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod. CFE focuses on three areas. One, it trains and organizes network learning events for Russian entrepreneurs who have the desire and ability to grow their businesses. Two, it supports entrepreneurship education in Russian schools and universities. CFE has trained over 2000 Russian university faculty in how to teach entrepreneurship and it initiated the Russian Association of Entrepreneurship Education. And three, it acts as a catalyst organization and assists other NGOs and organizations in promoting and creating a healthy climate for entrepreneurship in Russia. CFE is a founding member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance.  You can learn more about The Center for Entrepreneurship via our website: http://www.cfe.ru.

Moscow Department for Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship (DSIPE) is an industry-focused body of the Moscow Government's executive branch, engaged in developing and implementing the city's public policy in industrial, scientific-technical and innovative activities, supporting and developing entrepreneurship, shaping a favorable investment climate, attracting and supporting investments, developing and identifying the uses of Moscow's industrial zones. The DSIPE activities are primarily aimed at setting up and developing technoparks, industrial parks and clusters, analyzing investment proposals and projects, maintaining registers of small and medium businesses in Moscow, granting benefits, preferences and subsidies to small and medium businesses and research and manufacture organizations in Moscow. For details, see http://www.dnpp.mos.ru