Developing entrepreneurs for the 21st century
We recently sat on the Education and Talent Development panel at the Barbados Entrepreneurship Summit 2011. The conference is organised by the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF), a charity set up to make the island the world’s #1 entrepreneurial hub by 2020. The BEF has also initiated the drive towards free Wi-Fi across the island which is now at around 60% coverage. Whilst this creates many opportunities for entrepreneurship, it also requires a different approach to the workplace. We discussed this in our contribution at the Summit and were asked to give our big ideas on education and talent development for enterprise:
From Rum Shop to Bus Stop: putting Barbados on the business map with island-wide free Wi-Fi access
We’ve all seen those photos: the person working from their laptop on the beach, freelancing whilst surrounded by sun, sea and sand. Well that may be achievable in the not-too-distant future in Barbados. Friday (11.11.11) was their target date to become the first Wi-Fi-wide island.
The initiative, championed by the Barbados Entrepreneurship Foundation (BEF), is just one in a range of programmes to make the country the world’s entrepreneurial hub by 2020, and a very significant one.
Tea with… Hydar Dewachi
Just as we were about to leave the cafe after lively chat and a cup of tea, Hydar Dewachi said: “I prefer to collaborate with others because it brings out the best in my creativity”. It seemed like it was time to get the notebook out and stay a little longer. We spoke about collaborations, creative skills and the idea of “minglism”.
Hydar has been a freelance photographer since April 2010 (although he started practicing in 2002), when he left his job as a technical support engineer at Microsoft. But he hasn’t left his technology background behind him completely, it’s still very much a part of his practice, and it’s provided him with a unique take on collaboration. Read More
Sprinting to the publishing line: The 24-hour book project is back
*Update: The 24-hour book project has moved to 15th October*
Around 2 years ago, we wrote about the 24-hour book project, an ambitious initiative bringing people together to collaboratively write, edit and publish a book in just 24 hours. They succeeded back then, and now they’re back with a similar challenge for the South Asian Literature festival – this time with a South-Asian theme and working with contributors from both London and Delhi.
Workshop at Craft Central: 9th September
We’ll be running the following workshop at Craft Central on 9th September. All welcome!
Creative Collaboration
Date: Fri 9 Sept 2011
Time: 10am-1pm
Location: Craft Central, 33-35 St John’s Square, London EC1M 4DS