Education Enterprise Entrepreneurship

From the Irish Entrepreneur

Minister's for education and enterprise come together with industry leaders for the first time to talk exclusively to Irish entrepreneur about the role of eduction and enterprise in further developing entrepreneurship in ireland.

The attainment of a high level of churn in Ireland’s exporting sector has been cited as a good barometer of our ability to move up the value chain at the foreign direct investment level.

Our educational system has contributed greatly to Ireland’s success in attracting higher quality multinational technologies and jobs. Will it now play a similar or even greater role in the development of our entrepreneurial sector? Dympna O’Callaghan places this question centre stage and examines the role of education in stimulating and developing an entrepreneurial culture, mindset and skills.

Entrepreneurship has come of age in Ireland. It is now the subject of editorial comment in the New York Times which cites entrepreneurs as ranking just below rock stars in popularity! True, we are witnessing a culture shift in our perception of entrepreneurship as a way of life. Is this something new? Perhaps not if your forefathers were business people and grafted a living from self-owned businesses. Perhaps they too were risk takers, innovators, alert to and exploiting opportunities, possessing all the attributes of an entrepreneur such as need for achievement, locus of control and desire for independence.

The difference today is that business start-ups operate in a much more dynamic and competitive environment. While a high percentage operate on the domestic market, the truly sustainable have international market aspirations and technologies that go beyond the ‘me too’ scenario. These entrepreneurs’ capabilities have been shaped by education. It is no surprise therefore, that, in a drive to transform this economy into an entrepreneurial one, the development of an educational system to support start-up undertakings is regarded as paramount to Ireland attaining its goal of becoming one of the most entrepreneurial in the world.

THINKING SKILLS

Where does or should this educational process begin?
Mary Hanafin T.D., Minister for Education and Science believes that education for enterprise revolves around the type of active learning which now permeates throughout our educational system at all levels - primary, secondary and third level.

“Education today is about encouraging higher order thinking skills and equipping students with the ability to analyse and absorb. A curriculum should enable students to gain experience in a wide range of programmes, technologies, languages and assessment methods. While there is no special subject called entrepreneurship in our early stage curriculum, education is about giving skills, not subjects, and once these skills are acquired, students will know how to use them.”

ENTERPRISE INITIATIVES

Citing enterprise education initiatives such as Junior Achievement, Transition year, Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) Enterprise modules, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme (LCVP) Enterprise Education Link modules and the Exploring Enterprise initiative - recently launched by the City and County Enterprise Boards and the Second Level Support Service (SLSS) of the Department of Education – as being designed to give students practical experience in the elements and practicalities of setting up a business, the Minister emphasises that the skill of teaching entrepreneurship has also been catered for with the incorporation of a DVD (within Exploring Enterprise) of eight case studies on entrepreneurship to act as a ‘Teacher Resource Book’.

“There is evidence that enterprise has caught the imagination of our second level students,” adds the Minister. “Almost 40% of Leaving Certificate students now take a business option while 28,000 students take enterprise education as part of the LCVP, and twenty-seven thousand opt for Transition year. The curve will move upwards with more schools being encouraged to offer Transition year. I am also awaiting a response to my proposal for developing a short course on enterprise for delivery to fifth year students as I feel this might speed up the process of bringing enterprise to an even wider audience.”

A lot is also being done to encourage entrepreneurial thinking in disadvantaged areas too, particularly through the Schools’ Business Partnership Programme. “This is a very useful initiative as it links employees in some of our major companies with pupils and teachers; advantages flow in both directions,” says the Minister.

FOSTERING COMMERCIALISATION

The value of teamwork across disciplines at all levels in the education system enables students to cross fertilise ideas and technologies. The fact that the patents office now attends the BT Young Scientist of the Year competition is evidence that the youth of today are developing patentable technologies; this augurs well for future entrepreneurial flow.

A key priority for the Government is to develop links between researchers in third level Colleges and Institute of Technology with industry. “The benefits to the economy of doing so are immense,” adds Minister Hanafin. “This is why we have invested €230 million in the Programme for Research in Third-Level Institutions. We need to encourage the move from researcher to entrepreneur and to equip researchers with the skills to commercialise their research. We need to facilitate their stepping from the world of academia to entrepreneurship.”

And, much is being done is this regard. A quick read through the Forfás report ‘Towards Developing an Entrepreneurship Policy for Ireland’ highlights the many initiatives introduced by third level colleges in the area of enterprise education. It cites the fact that we now have four professors of entrepreneurship in UCD, DCU, UCC and UL; 77 undergraduate and eleven postgraduate courses available; centres of enterprise/innovation and incubators in all third level campuses; an Enterprise Platform Programme run by all Institutes of Technology with support from Enterprise Ireland; Technology Transfer offices facilitating the commercialisation of research into new ventures and an exhaustive range of Enterprise Awards and campus enterprise programmes.

This activity, whilst doing great work, lacks cohesion according to the Forfás report which also calls on educators to introduce entrepreneurship to the curriculum of all students, business and non-business alike. This, it says, will lead to ‘a culture of entrepreneurship and develop entrepreneurial mindsets’ at all levels on campus. It will instill confidence, develop skills and cultivate an environment for creativity mixed with learning.

CULTIVATING A NEW MINDSET

If we are to use education to its best advantage in our entrepreneurship quest it has to lead to the development of entrepreneurial mindsets, a goal which the European Commission is clearly focused on. Education will play a key role in this regard, according to Paula Fitzsimons, co-author of the annual GEM, Irish report. “Many good things are being done in the educational system at the moment; what is lacking is a policy to pull it all together and guide all stakeholders involved in its implementation; a clear direction to shareholders and policy makers to deliver strategy. While we are developing a culture of entrepreneurship in Ireland, we still need to focus on creating the right mindsets, stimulating individual thinking and creativity; the softer sides of entrepreneurship.

“We also have to measure and absorb the effectiveness of what we are doing. We need to have total regard for the value of education; you will find a very clear correlation between education at all levels and entrepreneurship activity, particularly amongst women – as women become more educated, they also become more entrepreneurial. We need to do more to kick start this; to make it happen. Mindset and skills development are paramount.”

Fitzsimons believes the time is right for Ireland to make a concerted effort to fly the entrepreneurial flag. “The demographics are just right for entrepreneurship; our population is growing with a large proportion in the appropriate age group, between twenties and forties. Entrepreneurship has gone up the Government agenda; its importance to the economy is now recognised; the time is perfect for a coherent policy which incorporates an educational strategy,” adds Fitzsimons.

STRATEGY FOR CHANGE

Any future strategy on entrepreneurship will take note of recommendations made by the European Commission in its Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurial Education in Europe which presented a menu of proposals for adoption by Member States engaged in promoting entrepreneurship in education. The Forfás report takes this into account particularly areas such as: ‘the need for political support for entrepreneurship education at the highest level; the need to integrate entrepreneurship programmes in all schools’ curricula; use of practical teaching tools; adoption of innovate methods to train teachers of entrepreneurship; associate students to real companies and to business people; offer entrepreneurial education to disadvantaged people and most importantly, encourage students, graduates and researchers with commercially viable business ideas to develop them into companies.’

BRINGING RESEARCH TO LIFE

At this stage Colleges and Institutes of Technology throughout Ireland don’t need to be prompted by the Oslo Agenda to understand the value of research commercialisation. Take NUIG for example. Its Director of Technology Transfer, Daniel O’Mahony knows his clear remit is “to identify and protect intellectual property (IP) developed and researched in NUIG. With a PhD in Bio Chemistry, a Business Degree in Technology Management and industry experience through time spent with Elan, in management consultancy and venture capital structuring, O’Mahony is well placed to promote the IP assets of the College.

Since 2005, and with a new team experienced in this realm, he has been busy commercialising technology in 2007 and has seen the number of patent applications increase from 3 to 30, 2006 on 2007 with a similar increase in the number of licenses agreed. “In the past ten years, we may have structured two license agreements, whereas in 2007, we had 24, with four stand-alone start-ups established,” he explains.

“It’s all to do with having the right team in place,” he adds. “You need people who are skilled in understanding key research projects and are dedicated to the cause of promoting research yet retain its value for the College. Many researchers don’t want to leave College so you have to identify an external management team who can lead a start-up to commericalise the research and make it work. In some instances, the researcher will be retained as scientific advisor to the start-up; that’s the key link between education and enterprise.”

Entrepreneurship education is now included in Masters and PhD programmes at NUIG so that researchers at that level spend time exposed to an entrepreneurial curriculum and can also collaborate with colleagues in other Colleges, including TCD and UCC.

“While PhD or Post Doctoral researchers are great at developing technology, some just don’t know what’s required to transfer their IP to the start-up arena; they benefit therefore from short courses on business topics such as finance, law, business negotiation, marketing and license agreements. That’s where our Campus Company Development Programme helps and it’s paying dividends: we now have fifteen people across the College exposed to campus company development. Some will progress to enterprise development, others with license on,” adds O’Mahony.

With significant projects in regenerative medicine and expertise building in its Digital Enterprise Research Institute, NUIG is building up an international reputation for developing leading edge technologies in stem cells and semantic web technologies.

LEARNING BY DOING

Enterprise Ireland is well versed in the practicalities of bringing a new business to life; its very successful four-year long Enterprise Platform Programme (EPP) was specifically designed to take entrepreneurs through all stages of business establishment.

“Traditionally, a lot of HPSUs over the years have been started by people in industry, quite a number from multi-nationals. These companies do well if the senior management team is experienced and ready to go. Some, however, may be good on technology but weak in general business and need to bring themselves up to speed; in this instance EPP is useful, it’s learning by doing,” says Michael Brougham, manager, Enterprise Preparation, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development Division, Enterprise Ireland. “From 2003 – 2006, sixty HPSUs or 20% of our top line target emanated from this programme; it’s a programme that’s proving its worth,” says Brougham.

Despite the fact that the EPP is answering a key need at business development level, Brougham feels it would be most beneficial to have enterprise modules in all third level colleges as mandatory, rather than optional. “We’d also be interested in seeing more people from PhD and Post Doctoral level coming through to business start-up. Our prime focus is on helping to generate projects with scalability in export markets; projects coming from the research stream present this ability. We need to look at third level colleges as power houses for creativity and capitalise on that. When support is available in this environment, you move to a new, higher level of entrepreneurship. That’s what Ireland needs now,” he adds.

GROUNDED

The Forfás ‘Towards Developing an Entrepreneurship Policy for Ireland’ points to a need for educators within third level to ensure that entrepreneurship ‘is part of their curriculum for students from ‘non-business and business courses alike’. The benefits, it says, will accrue.

Prof Frank Roche, Deputy Principal of the College of Business and Law and Prof of Entrepreneurship at UCD is someone who understands this thinking. “We started our journey in educating people for entrepreneurship in 1975,” he says.

When asked to elaborate, he answers, “when you spread the gospel to a broader based audience, you get a bigger impact at University level. Most people will not start-up a business as soon as they leave College; it could take anything from two to ten years to do so. Many who get into enterprise are not prepared and wish they had been able to take on board and learn more about it at the start. People vote and elect to take a course because they are curious about it, so we need to empower them to go on that journey. That’s why we introduced our New Horizons programme - to bring enterprise to all faculties as an elective in some instances and as a core subject in others. It’s taken a while to bed in as it’s not normal to step outside the normal curriculum box.”

New Horizons is a practical course and covers a cross section of subjects. “In any College where entrepreneurship is incorporated in a module, you can expect 10% to leave and run a business; this is pretty much on a par with international and US studies. That’s why our modules are opened up campus-wide; you have to spread the net. We have included entrepreneurship at undergraduate and post graduate levels. We now have seven elective courses in entrepreneurship at post grad level. And, we spread our reach out to the NOVA incubator too. We are also introducing shorter three-month courses for people who are in employment, are at business plan preparation stage but are not quite ready to leave the employment nest,” says Roche.

Entrepreneurship and start-ups are important for job creation. Ireland now needs to be as competitive in the services sector as it has been in manufacturing. “We need to replicate what’s happened in MIT in Boston; develop a map of Ireland dominated by red dots which signify technology spin-outs. That’s the new industrial development; that’s why education for entrepreneurship is needed; that’s what will generate our competitiveness in the years ahead,” he adds.

A FRESH START

The objective of embedding innovation and entrepreneurship across faculties and at every level enables colleges to develop a culture of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial mindsets on campus. NUIM’s Dr Robert Galavan, as Head of the newly-created Business and Law Department, may well have read this in the Forfás report but he was well on his way to setting up the structures needed to mainstream innovation in all his Department’s programmes. As the former Head of Executive Education and Strategy at the Irish Management Institute he is fully conversant with the drivers of industry.

As the final University in the country to have a Business Department, Galavan’s aspiration is to develop his new area of responsibility into a major school of Business and Law in the country. Galavan’s core focus will be on innovation rather than specialisation; taking, creating and helping entrepreneurs to spot opportunities and enabling them to being innovation to life.

Galavan is clearly focused on developing a culture of entrepreneurship on-campus; he wants his students to get excited about it. “Teaching it at every level gives students an ability to gain exposure to entrepreneurship; so many are missing out at the moment,” he says.

R&D

While NUIM’s business department may be new its involvement with leading edge research is not. Through its Innovation and Value Institute, a joint venture with Intel and a consortium of global companies, it works with companies to address challenges presented by IT. “The value to the College of being involved in research at this level is immense,” says Galavan. “We can take the modes and frameworks back into the classroom and present students with the latest thinking in the field. Some researchers, who are working with the Institute on research at the highest level, also teach entrepreneurship at undergraduate level. That can only be beneficial,” he adds.

While Galavan would also like to see undergraduates gain entrepreneurial experience in a proactive way he feels it’s just not practical. “Time is the issue at start-up and most companies don’t have the structures in place to give students work experience. However, we should not confuse entrepreneurial with small; seeing what’s happening in larger companies prepares them for post start-up stage, which is just as critical for the growth phase. Students gain a rich experience from job placements; they learn about finance, cash flow, scalability, international markets and most importantly about human resources.”

Galavan feels very strong about the people side of entrepreneurship. He would put this high on his list of essentials for all start-up enterprise; the ability to choose the right people, the right team to take the embryonic company through all phases of its development. “They will only learn this from exposure to real life entrepreneurial environments; they need to make the human connection with great role models,” he adds.

GOVERMENT COLLABORATION

Role models in all strata of entrepreneurship will be important if Ireland is to attain its entrepreneurial status goal. Micheál Martin, T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment is hoping to do for entrepreneurship what he did for a nti-smoking in Ireland; revolutionise our thinking.

His determination to position Ireland as a leading entrepreneurial economy is clearly evident; he sees education ‘reinforcing a strong culture, supporting and enabling men and women to develop the skills and confidence they need to start and develop businesses. “We have undergone a significant mindset change to ent repreneurship which has enabled us attain a high position among the EU 25 and OECD countries,” he says. “Innovations to promote business start-up activity including: Innovation vouchers, the Tech-Check programme, Business Campus Scheme and innovations in venture capital funding are assisting the process. We are building up a good entrepreneurial infrastructure at all educational and incubation levels with incubators such as the National Software Centre in Cork, the Digital Hub in Dublin and Webworks making an impact.

The very comprehensive Forfás report signals the way forward. Framing an Entrepreneurship Policy document, recommended initially by the Small Business Forum and currently underway, will chart a new direction for entrepreneurship in Ireland. “Education will be a key component of this policy; most importantly integrated education in schools where business will not just be confined to Transition year but permeate at all levels. My Department works closely with the Department of Education and Science on educating for business. We will refine and take tangible applications to enterprise and see how we can use the curriculum to more effectively promote enterprise, Minister Martin explains.”

Education is central to stimulating an entrepreneurship culture in Ireland. Embedding this culture requires cross Government involvement and calls for input from all eight Government Departments as happened when developing the very comprehensive Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Strategy for the country as a whole. “We now operate in a globalised world. We must equip our entrepreneurs and our business leaders with the skills to operate in that world. Education is the key,” adds Minister Martin