The rapid technological progress calls on us to learn faster by working together and to pull out of ourselves more of our true potential, both individually and collectively. We need to reinvent education, think creatively, ask the right questions, have interpersonal skills, and work in teams.

Exposure to environments that encourage innovation is important as they can provide both an inspiration and needed support. Spaces where people are encouraged to work together to solve problems and to share their knowledge, thereby fostering a collegial and progressive work environment help talent to get noticed. Innovation programs (e.g. accelerators, prizes, entrepreneurship education programs) on innovation-driven entrepreneurship are beneficial support mechanisms.

Universities play the key in the ICT centric innovation ecosystem. Universities need to adapt to provide practical skills for a predominately digital economy. Education programs should be tailored to provide access to knowledge, boost original thinking, bold experimentation and interdisciplinary creativity.

An important facet of public-private collaboration is the exchange between universities and industry as innovative ventures are often driven by technologies that come from basic research and pass through technology transfer channel and commercialisation.

This session will discuss:

- Supporting networks of entrepreneurs through ICT infrastructure such as special purpose incubators and accelerators, that provide elements of co-working spaces, maker spaces, living labs, fablabs, urban labs, innovation hubs/labs, and technological sandboxes for experimentation
- The anchoring role of universities in providing entrepreneurial skills and nurturing the culture of innovation
- Fostering an active collaboration between universities, entrepreneurs and private sector and allowing innovation practitioners to work across boundaries