06 July 2018, Taipei – The International Council for Small Business (ICSB)
held its 63rd Annual Congress in Taipei, Taiwan from June 26-29 that was attended by over 500 people.
Every year, ICSB holds a Congress in a different area of the world to bring together practitioners, academics, and entrepreneurs to discuss medium, small, and micro-sized enterprises. Taiwan was an exemplary location to host this year’s Congress as Taiwan’s small and medium enterprises have been recognized as the key driving force of Taiwan’s economic development over the past half-century.
The theme of the Congress was “Reshaping the World Through Innovative SMEs,” which reaffirms the unshakable responsibility of SMEs in leading the world into the coming decades. Plenary sessions included discussions on the Future of SMEs, Women in High Growth Entrepreneurship, and Humane Entrepreneurship. The Future of SMEs session discussed new research that has revealed that smaller businesses are more open and optimistic about artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to boost business growth.
The Women in High Growth Entrepreneurship Session, which was moderated by ICSB’s new President, Geralyn Franklin, focused on the phenomena of women’s entrepreneurship and how women business owners are viewed as a potential source of economic and social development. Lastly, the Humane Entrepreneurship session discussed humane entrepreneurship and the synergy between human capital and the enterprise cycle.
In addition to the various plenary sessions, there were also author presentations, with over 120 papers presented by authors from over 25 different countries. ICSB offered two of its programs at the Congress: the ICSB Academy and the ICSB Global Certificate.
The ICSB Academy provided students with a full immersion experience in the making of a new entrepreneurial venture with the help of a team of global faculty. Attendees also had the opportunity to witness a new venture pitch competition where local entrepreneurs compete for an amazing business development plan and to participate in the Slush annual conference in Finland.
Attendees were able to register for two of ICSB’s Global Certificates in Taiwan: the Social Entrepreneurship Certificate and the Creativity and Innovation Certificate.
ICSB also celebrated MSMEs Day on June 27 with an event attended by many distinguished guests, including Ministers from various countries and the representative of the government of Taiwan, Chen Chien-Jen.
