Lessons learned in effective community-university-industry collaboration models for smart and connected communities research

In 2017, the Boston University Hariri Institute for Computing and the Initiative on Cities co-hosted two workshops on “Effective Community-University-Industry Collaboration Models for Smart and Connected Communities Research,” with the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF). These efforts brought together over one hundred principal investigators and research directors from universities across the country, as well as city officials, community partners, NSF program managers and other federal agency representatives, MetroLab Network representatives and industry experts. The focus was on transdisciplinary “smart city” projects that bring technical fields such as engineering and computer science together with social scientists and community stakeholders to tackle community-sourced problems. Presentations, panel discussions, working sessions and participant white papers surfaced operational models as well as barriers and levers to enabling effective research partnerships. To capture the perspectives and beliefs of all participants, in addition to the presenters, attendees were asked to synthesize lessons on each panel topic. This white paper summarizes the opportunities and recommendations that emerged from these sessions, and provides guidance to communities and researchers interested in engaging in these types of partnerships as well as universities and funders that endeavor to nurture them. It draws on the collective wisdom of the assembled participants and the authors. While many of the examples noted are drawn from medium and large cities, the lessons may still be applicable to communities of various sizes.National Science Foundatio

The East Heads West: Prospects of Chinese Entrepreneurship Education in the Near Future

Entrepreneurship has led the charge for worldwide economic growth in the late 20th century onwards. This research study investigates the prospects of entrepreneurship education in China and to provide our sponsor company, Hangzhou Bster Sci&Tech Co. Ltd., a provider of business simulations, a projection of entrepreneurship education trends in China. Through data collected from interviews, surveys, and journal databases, we found that China will fully integrate western teaching methods into their entrepreneurship education system

Domestic Venture Capitalists’ Effect on Early Internationalization in Finnish Startups : A Non-Financial Resource-Based Approach

Venture Capital (VC) industry has grown rapidly both globally and in Finland for the past two decades. During this time, both the total amount of made investments as well as their size has grown considerably. As the industry has grown substantially, also scientific research has shown interest in the topic. Most of the earlier research has focused on the financial intermediary role of VCs, but lately there have been findings that indicate VCs would also carry out considerable amounts of non-financial resource-provisioning for their investments. This resource-provisioning has not been researched much in the context of early internationalization (EI) which provides an interesting perspective on the topic. Simultaneously, Finland possesses several traits as a market that provides a suitable research setting for this specific topic. Hence, this research attempts to understand the effect that domestic VCs’ non-financial resources have on early internationalization in Finnish startups. The purpose of the study is divided into three sub-questions: the managerial resources, the strategic resources and heterogenous provision of these resources. The theoretical background of this research is divided between earlier research on both early internationalization and VC investing. Both of these main themes are combined in the used theoretical model that identifies six distinct resources. The research method used in this research was an extensive case study which comprised of four unique cases that were selected based on requirements set by the earlier EI research. The data was collected from August 2020 to November 2020 by interviewing four VCs from applicable cases through semi-constructed interviews. The results indicate that VCs are in fact in possession of the resources suggested by the model. However, they will not necessarily provide them to all of their investments as was suggested by the model. Instead, they try to optimize their resource-provisioning by investing in capable founders, who are also experienced entrepreneurs and experts in their field. All in all, the interaction between the founders and the VCs were observed to be much more reciprocal than what the initial model suggested. Findings from the observed cases also suggested that more than often the startups start to internationalize already before they receive VC investment which indicates that they do not need the VCs to start their internationalization process, but more to support the ongoing process.Venture Capital (VC) -sijoittaminen on kasvanut voimakkaasti sekä Suomessa että maailmanlaajuisesti viimeisen kahden vuosikymmenen aikana. Tänä aikana sekä tehtyjen sijoitusten kokonaismäärä että sijoitusten keskimääräinen koko on kasvanut huomattavasti. Alan kasvun myötä myös tieteellinen yhteisö on osoittanut kiinnostusta aiheeseen. Suurin osa aikaisemmasta tutkimuksesta on keskittynyt VC-sijoittajien rooliin rahoituksen välittäjinä, mutta viime aikoina useat tulokset ovat osoittaneet, että VC-sijoittajat tarjoaisivat myös huomattavia määriä ei-rahallisia resursseja sijoituksilleen. Tätä resurssitarjontaa ei ole tutkittu lähes ollenkaan aikaisen kansainvälistymisen yhteydessä, mikä tarjoaa mielenkiintoisen näkökulman aiheeseen. Samanaikaisesti, Suomella on markkinana useampi mielenkiintoinen ominaisuus, jotka yhdessä tarjoavat sopivan tutkimusympäristön kyseisen aiheen tutkimiseen. Tämä tutkimus yrittää ymmärtää, mikä vaikutus kotimaisten VC-sijoittajien tarjoamilla ei-rahallisilla resursseilla on aikaisen vaiheen kansainvälistymiseen suomalaisissa startupeissa. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoite on jaettu kolmeen alatavoitteeseen: johdolliset resurssit, strategiset resurssit sekä heterogeeninen resurssien tarjonta. Tämän tutkimuksen teoreettinen tausta on jaettu aikaisen vaiheen kansainvälistymistä sekä VC-sijoittamista koskevaan aikaisempaan tutkimukseen. Molemmat näistä pääteemoista on yhdistetty tutkimuksen pohjana toimineessa teoreettisessa mallissa, joka tunnistaa kuusi yksittäistä resurssia. Tutkimusmetodina tässä tutkimuksessa oli kattava case-tutkimus, johon valikoitui neljä case-tapausta, jotka täyttivät aikaisen vaiheen kansainvälistymistä aiemmin tutkineiden tutkimusten asettamat kriteerit. Tutkimuksen data kerättiin elokuun 2020 ja marraskuun 2020 välillä haastattelemalla näiden case-tapausten VC-sijoittajia puolistrukturoiduissa haastatteluissa. Tutkimuksen tulokset vahvistavat, että suomalaisilla VC-sijoittajilla on hallussaan käytetyn mallin ehdottamia ei-rahallisia resursseja, mutta he eivät välttämättä tarjoa niitä jokaiselle sijoituskohteelleen, niin kuin malli alkujaan ehdotti. Sen sijaan, VC-sijoittajat pyrkivät optimoimaan resurssien tarjoamista sijoittamalla kykeneviin perustajiin, jotka ovat myös kokeneita yrittäjiä sekä asiantuntijoita alallaan. VC-sijoittajien ja yritysten perustajien välinen kanssakäyminen oli myös paljon vastavuoroisempaa, kuin malli antoi olettaa. Tulokset viittasivat myös siihen, että startupit kansainvälistyvät usein jopa ennen saatuaan VC-sijoitusta

Latin American perspectives to internationalize undergraduate information technology education

The computing education community expects modern curricular guidelines for information technology (IT) undergraduate degree programs by 2017. The authors of this work focus on eliciting and analyzing Latin American academic and industry perspectives on IT undergraduate education. The objective is to ensure that the IT curricular framework in the IT2017 report articulates the relationship between academic preparation and the work environment of IT graduates in light of current technological and educational trends in Latin America and elsewhere. Activities focus on soliciting and analyzing survey data collected from institutions and consortia in IT education and IT professional and educational societies in Latin America; these activities also include garnering the expertise of the authors. Findings show that IT degree programs are making progress in bridging the academic-industry gap, but more work remains

Start-Ed: A Model for Commercial Clinical Legal Education

This article outlines a pro bono student law clinic project focusing on providing legal assistance to startup businesses in central London. Serving more than 500 clients over this period, the clinic adapted to a number of problems by modifying its format with an emphasis on flexibility and informality. Additionally, the clinic implemented a survey in order to streamline the delivery of its advice. Data was collected from over 460 startups over a two year period between 2013 and 2015 regarding the nature of their business as well as the type of legal challenges they faced. The study revealed the primary need for basic legal advice on a few select matters including most notably company structure. In addition to collecting data on startups in London, the clinic project is presented as both a model for successful clinical education and example of how the university sector can act to boost innovation and the entrepreneurial economy

The impact of acceleration programs on early-stage tech-startups considering the founders’ background

The growth of tech-startups such as Airbnb and Uber into multibillion-dollar companies has a strong impact on the economy. Yet, 50% of startups close the business within 5 years, which makes it crucial to have support organizations, such as accelerators, to mitigate these failure rates. Accelerators help new ventures with a pre-defined business support. Nonetheless, this business support will be absorbed and implemented at different speeds since founding team members usually have different areas of expertise. Thus, we aim at uncovering the benefits of acceleration programs, what drives those benefits and if the outcomes differ according to the founder’s background – considering their opposite learning types (exploitative vs exploratory). Data was collected through 14 semi-structured interviews and analyzed using inductive thematical analysis. Results suggest that most benefits are business model improvement, key project modifications and business/entrepreneurial knowledge and the drivers are time compression, networking, mentoring and training/curriculum. Concerning the differences related to their backgrounds, views on exploitative and explorative learning find echo in our results as business founders benefit more from networking and only fine-tune their business, while technical founders benefit mainly from mentoring and incur in bigger and more important changes. Further findings indicate accelerators can improve their impact by selecting participants based on their value proposition, focusing on knowledge transferring and in one sector/industry, leveling the startup's stages in each cohort and following-up after the programs. For founders, we recommend a thorough screening of accelerators before applying and a preparation before-hand to get the most value from the programs.O crescimento de startups como o Airbnb e a Uber tem um impacto comprovado na economia. No entanto, 50% das startups fecham nos primeiros 5 anos, o que dá importância a organizações de apoio como aceleradoras, que mitigam o insucesso com programas focados em gestão. Contudo, este conhecimento é absorvido a velocidades diferentes devido às diferentes áreas de conhecimento dos empreendedores. Este estudo identifica os benefícios destes programas, as causas desses benefícios e se os resultados diferem conforme o conhecimento dos fundadores – sendo que teriam aprendizagens distintas (explorativa/exploratória). Para tal, foram realizadas e analisadas 14 entrevistas. Os resultados sugerem que os benefícios mais comuns são a melhoria do modelo de negócios, mudanças estratégicas e aquisição de conhecimento empresarial/empreendedor e que os condutores dos benefícios são a limitação temporal, os contactos obtidos, a mentoria e o currículo. A ligação entre o conhecimento dos fundadores e uma aprendizagem exploratória e explorativa está espelhada nos resultados. Os fundadores de gestão beneficiam mais dos contactos obtidos e são mais propensos a melhorar o modelo de negócios, enquanto os fundadores técnicos beneficiam principalmente da mentoria e fazem mais mudanças estratégicas. Outros resultados indicam que as aceleradoras podem melhorar o seu impacto se selecionarem fundadores de acordo com a proposta de valor, focarem na transferência de conhecimento e num sector/industria, nivelarem o estado das startups em cada edição e fizerem follow-up. Para os fundadores, as recomendações são que façam uma triagem das aceleradoras antes da candidatara e preparação prévia para poderem retirar mais valor dos programas

Internationalization of Portuguese startups: The process and influential factors

As part of the Master of Science in Management, this thesis approaches the topic of internationalization applied to portuguese startups, to whom internationalization has become highly common over the last decades, either due to the drive to grow, or the need to survive. Consequence of the limited dimension of the Portuguese market and the homogenization of the global markets, internationalization became a strategy that startups seek from the early beginning. Studying about the internationalization process of portuguese startups and its influential factors allows us to understand and gather good practices, in order to create knowledge to improve the internationalization process of startups, which might want to take the international path. To accomplish the above described, a theoretical framework on international business was provided, followed by the analysis of three portuguese startups that have undertaken internationalization. In general terms, it was concluded that it is not possible to look at the internationalization process of portuguese startups as a linear phenomenon explained by one single model. Even though some particularities are mutually exclusive, these models are evolutions of each other and, most importantly, explain internationalization from different perspectives, which makes them in a way complementary. Although none of the models explains all three case studies, a pattern of the internationalization process of portuguese startups was found, beginning with direct exports and followed by the enrolment in strategic alliances. The research also highlighted several influential factors to the process, such as market knowledge, company’s network, physic distance and technological innovation.Parte integrante do Mestrado em Gestão, esta tese aborda o tópico da internacionalização aplicado a startups portuguesas, para as quais a internacionalização se tornou altamente comum nas últimas décadas, devido à vontade de crescer ou à necessidade de sobreviver. Como consequência da limitada dimensão do mercado português e da homogeneização do mercado global, a internacionalização converteu-se numa estratégia que as startups seguem desde o seu início. Estudar sobre o processo de internacionalização das startups portuguesas e os fatores que o influenciam permite-nos entender e recolher boas práticas, de forma a criar conhecimento para melhorar o processo de internacionalização de startups, que possam querer tomar o caminho internacional. Para cumprir o acima descrito, foi apresentado o contexto teórico sobre negócios internacionais, seguido da análise de três startups portuguesas que envergaram na internacionalização. Em geral, foi concluído que não é possível explicar o processo de internacionalização das startups portuguesas como um fenómeno linear explicado por um único modelo. Apesar de algumas particularidades serem mutuamente exclusivas, estes modelos são evoluções uns dos outros, e mais importante, explicam a internacionalização de diferentes perspetivas, o que os torna de certa forma complementares. Ainda que nenhum dos modelos explique os três casos de estudo, foi encontrado um padrão no processo de internacionalização das startups portuguesas, começando pela exportação direta, seguida da formação de alianças estratégicas. A pesquisa destaca ainda diversos fatores influenciadores do processo, como o conhecimento de mercado, a rede de uma empresa, a distância física e a inovação tecnológica

Necessity for the policy to reinforce the role of universities from innovative startup competitions at the innovative startup ecosystem in Vietnam

Universities have always been a place to grow and foster innovation, which often leads to the founding of startups and the introduction of innovative goods or services. One key contributor to this occurs in the form of innovative startup competitions on a university level. In this paper, we highlight the role of such university startup competitions in providing a favorable environment for students to participate in innovation activities and to organize contests of innovative startup ideas. We further categorize innovative startup competitions in Vietnam as a real-world example, and present the results of a local survey on university student participation in innovative startup competitions. Finally, we suggest various solutions as the necessary policy to strengthen the role of universities in the existing startup ecosystem

A guideline for planning and implementing an action-based and transnational course in higher engineering education: A Case for Sustainable Value Creation

This paper outlines a generic guideline for planning and implementing an action-based and transnational course in higher education for training the engineering competencies required in a future dynamic European workplace and economy. This guidance is intended for universities, research and teaching institutes, as well as for companies interested in establishing novel teaching concepts by closing the gap between know-how and experience. The guideline will provide suggestions and lessons learned for the realization of an efficient and effective implementation. Important development phases of the guideline are explained through a use case based on a master course, which has been jointly established in cooperation by four European universities. Learning objectives for this course aim at raising the awareness about sustainable value creation by focusing on the development of sustainable and technological innovations with entrepreneurial objectives