The International Council for Small Business (ICSB) World Conference is an annual gathering with the vision of advancing entrepreneurship worldwide. This year the conference took place in Wellington, NZ on the 10-13th of June and was hosted by New Zealand’s national university Massey University in collaboration with the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ).
This year’s theme “Leading From The Edge” inspired discussions about how entrepreneurs and small businesses operate in different types of challenging and fast-changing environments and deal with the inherent high degree of uncertainty. In her key note speech, Professor Saras Sarasvathy presented fascinating examples of entrepreneurs who defied the challenges and uncertainties in their immediate environment and turned them into pioneering business opportunities; leading from the edge.
Another area that has received high attention at this year’s conference was indigenous entrepreneurship. The conference offered a track covering a variety of issues about indigenous entrepreneurs and their businesses that spawned over the entire three days. The presentations were exceptionally well visited, and included talks and passionate discussions by researchers, policy makers and (indigenous) practitioners alike. The overall conclusion was that we have yet to learn more about this important form of entrepreneurship, and how to facilitate development and encourage growth of indigenous businesses.
Read more about the International Council for Small Business and its annual conference.