NBC organises social entrepreneurship workshop

Business Sunday 16/December/2018 14:00 PM
By: Times News Service
NBC organises social entrepreneurship workshop

Muscat: The National Business Centre (NBC), which is an initiative by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn), hosted on Sunday a workshop on ‘Social Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Ideation’.
The event featured Prof. Richard Filley who serves as lead social entrepreneurship faculty in the ‘Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (TEM)’ programme in The Poly School within the Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU).
The workshop’s two sessions highlighted social entrepreneurship and how young people can change the world and make it better, and innovation and ideation and how entrepreneurs can find new ideas that make a difference.
Filley elaborated on his personal experience in the field as through his role at Arizona State University (ASU), he teaches, mentors and advises entrepreneurial students and start-ups of all types, and has been pioneering in innovative ways to teach entrepreneurship online to students located across the United States and around the world. His global activities have included speaking in 22 countries.
At various points in his career, Filley has founded and led a technology-based start-up (All About You), been a part of a team of inventors developing new patented products (Mountain Safety Research), been an intrapreneur creating new programmes at ASU, and mentoring and launching new social entrepreneurship ventures.
Filley was recognised with an honorable mention in the global 2012 Dell Social Innovation Education Awards, given for commitment to supporting and mentoring students involved in developing innovative solutions to social problems, fostering creativity in classroom teaching methods and dedication to building institutional support for social innovation education.
Filley explained at the workshop that everything is possible with the current generation and their knowledge of technology. He elaborated that according to Digital Trends, around 70 per cent of the world’s population will use a smartphoneby 2020. “With this kind of available technology power, there are plenty of opportunities for the young generation to expand their own businesses and assist others around the world,” he noted.
Filley and the workshop’s participants then toured the National Business Centre, which is an initiative launched by Madaynat the Knowledge Oasis Muscat with the aim of offering promising Omani entrepreneurs a platform to develop their business ideas and advance them into growing ventures.
The centre offers a premier platform for Omani entrepreneurs by providing business development support and guidance, training and mentoring, access to markets and industry experts, and state-of-the-art and fully-equipped office spaces, meeting rooms, and presentation facilities.