Unique Portal Launched to Foster Entrepreneurship

Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) – November 25, 2013 – A new global online platform for entrepreneurs to share their experiences and knowledge, the Global Entrepreneurship Library (GEL), is being launched in conjunction with Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) and the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda this week.

The urge to create businesses can be found in people of almost every nationality, yet many of the challenges of would-be entrepreneurs can differ greatly by country and region. The GEL aims to be the first international portal of knowledge and resources to enable entrepreneurial success. It provides a way for entrepreneurs around the world to share materials and resources, including templates, case studies, how-to articles, lists of local resources, economic data, policy information and research.

“Every Fortune 500 company was once a start-up,” said Krisztina “Z” Holly, chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. “Entrepreneurs will be a key driver of economic growth in the future. However, our Council has found that the needs of individual entrepreneurs can vary widely from region to region, and the support for start-ups is incredibly uneven globally.”

“This platform is for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs,” said Thom Ruhe, Vice-President of Entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and a member of the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. “It’s a resource that we believe will empower people at the grassroots to start and grow more successful companies.”

“This will be an especially good resource for entrepreneurs in the developing world. However, it will also be extremely valuable for entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Sometimes Silicon Valley can learn from the developing world because they are not just thinking outside the box – they don’t have a box,” said Lina Boren, Research Analyst for the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship.

Anyone with a web browser can access content from the library and contribute to the library. To maximize idea exchange, the content itself is not vetted or censored, but contributions are screened by curators in 139 countries to ensure that it is appropriate for the entrepreneurial audience. The GEL will provide a way for useful information needed by entrepreneurs to be curated within each country, and contributed to a pool of knowledge shared internationally.

The GEL was created by the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship in collaboration with the Kauffman Foundation, and built on the platform created for the 7.5 million participants of the Global Entrepreneurship Week network. Entrepreneurs, faculty and entrepreneurship advocates worldwide are invited to use the platform and to add their resources to the library.

The Co-Chairs of the Summit on the Global Agenda 2013 are Nasser Ahmed AlSowaidi, Chairman, Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), United Arab Emirates and Sultan Saeed Nasser Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates

Contacts:
Oliver Cann
Associate Director, Media Relations
Tel.: +41 79 799 3405
E-mail: Oliver.Cann@weforum.org