20 October 2015, 16:57
The roundtable was conducted within the participation of the leading expert Burton Lee.
The participants of the roundtable had an opportunity to hear the opinion of the expert and express own opinion on: digital agenda for the Ukrainian enterprises, innovative culture in the Silicon Valley and Europe; opportunities to develop entrepreneurship in Ukraine and the role of universities in the process of development of entrepreneurship.
In the course of the discussion the participants agreed that Ukraine has a potential and opportunities to develop technological economy through the introduction of the system of knowledge management, holding of radical reforms, adjustment of cooperation between the business, state authorities and the education sector.
"The point of reference for the development of Ukraine could be the cooperation between the business and universities," Burton Lee said.
Having agreed with the importance of the educational element in the process of development of an innovative country, director of the Department of Digital Economy of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry of Ukraine Olena Minych gave an example of a positive experience of Israel in the introduction of the initiative entitled "Digital Ambassadors." In the frames of this one-year program representatives of the number of governmental organizations and the business all over the country underwent re-qualification. According to her, the same initiative would be very expedient for Ukraine.
Director of the Institute of Social Research Volodymyr Panchenko said that not only legislative but also the executive power, which is currently too focused on the deregulation, should be involved in the implementation of the plan for innovative and in general economic development of Ukraine.
In turn the people's deputy of Ukraine Anton Heraschenko pointed to the limiting factor of the development of the IT industry and all other sectors in Ukraine, which in his words was corruption. "Unless corruption is the most beneficial business in Ukraine, unless it is more profitable to sell the positions/seats and exploit state enterprises in favor of the business, no economy would develop in our country," he said. Instead, the parliamentarian advised to focus on the creation of the legislative framework to fight corruption and attract the stuff able to fulfill their duties properly.
President of Ethics and Economy Academy Zinovii Svereda noted: "Real economy should be not only the source of the income, but it also the source of the welfare, which in fact would be quite possible especially taking in account the experience of America and Europe, if, of course, the authorities, science and business go along together. The reporter advised focusing on the development of the civil society and local communities.
People's deputy Viktor Romaniuk said that small and mid-sized businesses are the those Ukraine should count on instead of international structures.
Parliamentarian Oleksandr Spivakovskyi supported the stimulation of synchronization of universities and the business at the legislative level.
Chairperson of the Committee Viktor Halasiuk pointed to the necessity to adjust the system of education and needs of real economy sector. "We have to protect the structure of economy that would be beneficial for us. Then we would have to draw the attention of the education sector on it. If we only improve the education sector, we will have nothing but new waves of emigration," he explained.
At the end of the roundtable, Halasiuk said the power, society and business were hugely isolated from each other. However, he said they needed close cooperation. The Chairperson of the Committee said the state had to act to provide favorable conditions for private sector of economy instead of being a tough regulator.
Reference information:
Burton Lee is a technology venture finance, innovation, entrepreneurship and design industry professional with 15+ years entrepreneurship, senior management and technical leadership experience in seed-stage investment; venture-backed startups; major global technology corporations (GE, HP, Daimler); Government executive service; STI & economic development agencies (NSF, NIH, NASA, European Commission); & top research universities.
Dr. Lee lectures on 'European Innovation and Entrepreneurship' in Stanford's School of Engineering, based out of the ME Dept Design Group. He is a frequent public speaker in Europe, Latin America, Washington DC & Silicon Valley.
As Managing Director of Innovarium Ventures, Dr. Lee provides senior strategic, financial & technical leadership and advisory services to the global innovation sector, including hi-tech startups; private equity | VC investment funds and seed- & early-stage investors; technology & manufacturing corporations | MNCs; universities; S&T parks; accelerators & incubators; and regional & national Government STI agencies.
Dr. Lee's expertise includes venture investment; regional innovation ecosystem | cluster assessment, roadmapping, strategy, design & new programs development; technology startup advisory roles & operations; innovation management, including 'design thinking', product design & development; technology commercialization; corporate development & strategy.
Relevant policy experience includes science, technology & innovation policy & programs for national/regional govts, Prime Ministers & Democratic presidential candidates
Exceptionally strong intl background with deep innovation, entrepreneurship, design, economics, technology & STI programs & policy experience in Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Austria, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Colombia, Panama, Jamaica, Guyana, Japan, and Berlin & Brussels.