Mar 31 2010 | Posted by SSSandy

Inaugural Forum Stimulates Young Entrepreneurs

Students from WUN universities around the world will look at how the growth of e-publishing is creating business challenges and opportunities as part of an international forum at the University of Sydney. 

Twenty-five students from the universities of Sydney, Western Australia, Nanjing, Alberta, Leeds and York are taking part in the STIMULATE forum, organised by the University of Sydney in conjunction with the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN). 

Among the interested observers will be Australia's Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Kim Carr, who will deliver a keynote address on the last day of the forum. Mr Carr recently set up a strategy group to help the Australian book industry meet the challenges posed by online book sales. 

WUN Chief Executive, Professor John Hearn, said the forum was a new event that reflected the WUN’s commitment to fostering the next generation of innovators and leaders. 

Forum convener Dr Richard Seymour, from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Economics and Business, said: “The students will be dealing with a real life scenario, and their input will feed into the Book Industry Strategy Group’s work.” 

The delegates – all top students from a range of disciplines – will take part in workshops and hear presentations from academics, book industry and business representatives, and government officials.

“This is a great opportunity for the students to learn and network at a global level, and will expose them to the challenges of innovation and business growth,” said Dr Seymour, a lecturer and program director in Innovation and Enterprise. 

The forum is an initiative of WUN Enterprise, which aims to advance the impact of teaching, research and practice of enterprise in higher education, specifically focusing on globalization issues and opportunities. As an inaugural event, Stimulate intends to generate significant momentum to become an annual event on the WUN calendar. 

The forum runs for four days from 6 to 9 April.

More information:

WUN Enterprise

The University of Sydney Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Group