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New Emerge Partnership launched to incentivize
innovation
Government and industry seek to kick-start rapid growth
Budapest, 13 October 2015 – The new
Emerge Partnership
was launched today at ITU Telecom World 2015 in Budapest, bringing together a
core group of stakeholders to provide thought-leadership and best-practice
advice to help inform government policy-making.
Emerge Partners will be actively engaged in supporting innovation
and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and include representatives from the United
Nations and other international organizations, the ICT industry,
incubator/accelerator managers as well as development/innovation practitioners.
Business to government (B2G) dialogues took centre-stage today at ITU Telecom
World 2015, where the Emerge Partnership was launched as a means of facilitating
public-private collaboration. Large multinationals, start-ups and SMEs outlined
key priorities and requirements for government policy-makers to provide a vital
enabling environment for innovation and private enterprise.
A communiqué
issued by the Emerge Partners focused on increasing the innovation
capacity of small firms in the ICT sector, while encouraging the spread of
digital social innovation (DSI) aimed at helping to improve people’s lives
worldwide. The partnership also seeks to enable entrepreneurial ecosystems that
leverage a multitude of local, national and regional stakeholders to provide the
policies and necessary resources to create and sustain private-sector (and
SME)-led innovation and economic growth.
The Ministerial Round Table, which also met today, issued the ‘Budapest
Call for Action’ reaffirming the political will to accelerate
innovation for social impact in line with the
Connect
2020 Agenda adopted at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in
November 2014. The ‘Budapest Call for Action’ emphasized the importance of
fostering innovation entrepreneurship and welcomed the establishment of the
Emerge Partnership. The document highlighted the role of ICT-based innovation in
addressing key socio-economic and environmental sustainability challenges, such
as those addressed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and other national
and regional frameworks. It also invited all stakeholders to implement
innovative solutions, technologies and partnerships aimed at bridging the
digital divide and ensuring global connectivity for all.
Speaking at the event on Tuesday, ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao echoed
the Emerge Communiqué and Budapest Call for Action. “As the digital
transformation continues to bring unprecedented potential for socio-economic
growth, there is a very real danger that the digital divide between the
connected and the unconnected will deepen, rather than disappear,” Zhao said.
“Economic policies that promote innovation and entrepreneurship will be
essential to bring ICTs to every person and business in the world and
kick-start rapid growth.”
Read the blog: “Why
SMEs are at the heart of #ITUWorld 2015”
For more information and interview requests, please contact:
Paul Conneally
Head, Corporate Communications Division
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