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Arab Innovation & Entrepreneurship Network (AIEN)

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The Arab Innovation & Entrepreneurship Network (AIEN) as initiated by ITU’s Arab Regional Office in 2013 with the aim of developing and sharing cross expertise between business incubator managers and innovation ecosystem stakeholders in the Arab region. The network also aims to unify efforts of the innovation ecosystems and apply the best suitable and localized practices in the region.

(AIEN) objectives:

1. Establishing joint ventures between the Arab countries in addition to spreading the knowledge and exchanging experiences between them in the entrepreneurship field.
2. Promoting entrepreneurships and star-ups in the Arab region.
3. Building skills and competencies in the field of establishing and running incubators and technology parks in the Arab World.
4. Developing cooperation between innovation ecosystem stakeholders in the Arab region.
5. Developing cooperation and exchange of expertise with similar networks at regional and international levels.
6. Introducing members at the regional and international levels.
7. Raising awareness of decision-makers in the Arab countries with regards to the role of innovation in economic development.　

The president of AIEN, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) of Saudi Arabia, and ITU, signed a co-operation agreement to support AIEN achieve its goals. Within the framework of this agreement, ITU and KACST are working to assist AIEN in the following areas:　

Online presence: Presenting AIEN and its services through utilizing latest online technologies and trends, while paving the way to all targeted AIEN beneficiaries to profit from its services in the easiest way possible.

Soft-landing: Creating an Internationalization service between Arab countries whereby AIEN members (incubators and accelerators) offer companies easy and practical solutions from "smart take-off" to "soft landing" to ensure that businesses entering or expanding into new markets are introduced to the country’s business practices, culture and opportunities more effectively.

Training: Building and strengthening the capacity of Arab countries’ Incubators and Techno Parks by providing high level training to entrepreneurs and managers of support structures. This involves building personalized content and developing pieces of training for incubator and accelerator officers in addition to entrepreneurs.

Who can join AIEN:

You can join AIEN via its website www.aien.co , AIEN is open to all innovation and entrepreneurship actors in the region including:

Public sector: Government entities involved in the fields of Tourism, Finance, Education, IT/ICT, ICT regulatory, stock market regulatory, Commerce, Agriculture, SME promotion, and Science and innovation commissions

Support network: Incubators, Accelerators, Mentor networks, Industry associations, ICT chambers of commerce, ICT media organizations, Cluster organizations and Technology parks

Private sector: Telecommunications companies, ICT companies, Established SMEs, and associations

Financial partners: Central banks, Banks, Angel investors, Venture capitals, and Private equities

Entrepreneurs: Stakeholders from the pre-idea, start-up, SME, growth stages of entrepreneurship life cycle

Academia: Vocational schools and Research and Business institutions

Joining AIEN would support you and your institution to contribute to the development of the innovation ecosystem and create opportunities for entrepreneurs and start-ups in your countries. Moreover, it will provide opportunities for networking and partnership at regional and international levels.

Contacts :

For more information or queries about AIEN, please contact Mr. Kamel Bra, Operation officer at ITU on: kamel.bra@itu.int.