IEF 2014 - 13th International Entrepreneurship Forum conference

Governments, institutions, industry and society continue to juggle with established instruments and tools to grapple with the uncertain present and the unknown future. Social and political conflicts rage across the world even as Facebook and Twitter connect us across uncertain spaces and in limited time. Banks do not lend but corporate are awash with money; governments wish to reduce budget deficits but apply greater pressures on sometimes the most vulnerable in society; bonuses abound while the Fannie Maes disintegrate; economies seek innovative solutions but governments and firms ignore possibilities for democratising opportunity search and realisation; we seek global solutions but appear to entrench local problems; and the world is seen sometimes as technologically flat but spatially and contextually spiky. These antinomies of our times call for new forms of engagement that affect the way we live now and the legacy that we leave behind for future generations.
Our purpose is to invoke the thought processes and tools that generate effective and productive entrepreneurship to act as major catalysts for social and economic progress. Our goal is to effect both incremental and structural change at a time when our elite do not appear to be able to respond creatively to major economic and social challenges. To do so calls for a response of entrepreneurial people, organisations, policies, and environments to create productive outcomes out of a range of destructive disconnects of our times ? ecological, financial, technological, governance and leadership. These are the big issues that you as important delegates are addressing through our innovative plenary, panel, parallel and empathy sessions. These interactive sessions explore issues focusing on the centrality of the role of women, of education and training, of specific communities and spaces of entrepreneurship, the use of social media and the interplay of different institutions. The empathy is in our expectation of a rich fare from committed and networking individuals.
Each year we reinvent ourselves by seeking to offer unique platforms for discourse, argument and resolution, avoiding the litany of sameness that characterise so many events. This year we work as a smaller but close knit group. Our researchers discuss their findings, our panellists respond to topical themes of the day to find an entrepreneurial response, and our key speakers harness the momentum of our discussions through their leading insights - all nurturing fresh thinking and prospective action plans for generating new opportunities.
There is always effective mobilisation of resources behind any venture. The continuing support of the OECD’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and the Local Employment and Economic Development provides us with the necessary strength of institutional legitimacy. Our part nership with the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania offers us our critical regional presence, and our involvement with key support organisations enable us to work with confidence. We thank them all enormously. We believe that this conference will provide a launch platform for an entrepreneurial resolution of the problems of social sustainability and economic security in our times.