“The other 6 billion” - impact entrepreneurship in developing countries (en)

LizAn Kuster, Rosanna Lopez, Bahar Kumar While the world is still
looking at Silicon Valley, the real innovation happens in
developing countries. Coworking Spaces, Innovation Labs, Maker
Spaces, Incubators are popping up in many of those buzzing cities
full of chaos - and innovation. The sheer amount of problems to be
solved in these cities and countries leave unlimited opportunities
for entrepreneurs. In addition, there is an interesting opportunity
that Makerspaces in the developing world can create for women to
develop innovative solutions unique to the challenges they face and
become active players as entrepreneurs and entering so-called
alternative careers. The real life applications and socio-economic
benefits of innovation hubs and makerspaces in developing countries
demonstrate how this unique ecosystem can become a critical
component for building livelihoods.    The challenge to
beat, to establish a dynamic and successful ecosystem, is the lack
of knowledge and experience in the country. Most of the players,
from government over investors to entrepreneurs, don’t have the
necessary access to the best practices from other places. That’s
where “homecomers” play a significant role: often educated and
packed with experiences from developed markets, they make either
startups themselves or build incubators to invest their capital and
share their knowledge with the talented future entrepreneurs. Three
women will share their experiences and learnings from setting up a
community innovation space.