Global Entrepreneurship Week 2013 was celebrated for the first time in different universities of the city.
Global Entrepreneurship Week( GEW) is the world’s largest celebration of the innovators and job creators who launch start-ups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth and expand human welfare.
During one week each November, GEW inspires people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. These activities, from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings, connect participants to potential collaborators, mentors and even investors-introducing them to new possibilities and exciting opportunities. Peshawar was not a city to be left out of the global phenomenon as team and partners from Peshawar 2.0 arranged a number of events related to tech and entrepreneurship. Peshawar 2.0 is a social enterprise aimed at building a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem in the city. The week was kicked off with a talk by Dr Faisal Khan who shared his ideas about graduate entrepreneurship. Dr Faisal said he believes Universities should be producing innovators, not gradates. The world is moving towards a knowledge driven economy and it is innovators who will bridge the gap between our agricultural industry and the world. Students should also create a demand for business studies to be incorporated in their curriculum even if they are agriculture students. “You should be able to commercialise your final year project as soon as you graduate,”, said Dr Faisal, “a cluster of start-ups around University campuses will not only create jobs but can be a driving force for Pakistan’s economy. A parallel event was also held at the University of Engineering & Technology, Mardan campus where a 100 students turned out to listen to Asad Iqbal, the CEO and founder of an app development start up.
Cecos University also celebrated Global Entrepreneurship Week with talks by Ammar Awan and Dr Faisal Khan hosted by Peshawar 2.0 on the 3rd day of the week. Ammar is a software developer and computer sciences researcher with a passion for start-ups. Ammar has experimented with a number of successful ventures but decided to tell his story of an idea he never got to execute. His talk “Why execution is more important than ideas” was an eye opener for many students who attended the event. “Think your idea is awesome? It’s worth nothing if you don’t execute it. It’s worth nothing if you don’t test it in the market. So get out there, and make your ideas happen.” Ammar concluded. Edwardes College also took part in the worldwide celebrations of Global Entrepreneurship Week on the 21st of November, 2013. Students of different disciplines gathered for the talk “Start-ups Unplugged” held at the department for professional studies. The speaker, Bilal Ahmad, is a faculty member at Edwardes and Campus Lead at Peshawar 2.0. He is a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship, and has been involved in capacity development initiatives for young people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
To mark the end of the week this year, technology and start-up enthusiasts from Peshawar met for an informal meet up and networking session on Sunday.
Source: The Frontier Post.
