Today, the Global Entrepreneurship Network announced the release of its inaugural issue of GEN Magazine, a voice for promoting entrepreneurial growth worldwide. The issue, featuring a foreword by U.S. President Barack Obama, is being distributed in every edition of the Financial Times worldwide and hits the newsstands Friday, August 18.
“There has been a global explosion of interest in helping nascent entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas—but they need stronger ecosystems to help them unleash those ideas,” said Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network and co-chair of President Obama’s Spark initiative to help startups around the world. “Through better coordination and collaboration, we are empowering the next generation of game-changing startups with the ability to scale globally.”
The magazine underscores the value of collaborative entrepreneurial ecosystems as the epicenter for creating jobs, unearthing innovations for society and strengthening economic stability. It puts a special focus on European nations hard at work.
The German Federal Ministry of Economics has come up with 11 basic building blocks that show the logic of how an ecosystem works. Meanwhile, the Danish Foundation for Entrepreneurship examines its countries investment in entrepreneurship education with four federal ministries creating a national knowledge center.
An in-depth look into Ireland outlines how one small nation can punch above its weight on the global stage despite its economic challenges.
“One nation that continues to embrace the flame of knowledge and invest in a world-class education for your young people is Ireland,” stated President Obama in the magazine’s foreword. “And today, Ireland’s youth, and those who’ve come back to build a new Ireland, are now among the best educated, most entrepreneurial in the world. This is a nation that met its responsibilities -– and inspired the entire world.”
One of the fastest growing sectors in Ireland is financial technology (FinTech) and the magazine includes an overview of the FinTech situation in Ireland with a collection of essays from entrepreneurs, investors, government officials and more.
GEN Magazine was conceptualized and created by Maree Helena and David Bradley of GEN Ireland, an effort to bring together the public and private sectors to strengthen the pro-enterprise environment throughout the country.
“The Irish Government fully supports the work of GEN Ireland and is particularly excited about opening Ireland further up to a global network that can help entrepreneurs and the ecosystem thrive,” said Damien English, Minister of State for Skills Research and Innovation.
A full interactive digital version of the publication exists on the GEN Global website.
About Global Entrepreneurship Network
The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) operates a platform of projects and programs in 170 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. By fostering deeper cross border collaboration through initiatives engaging entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurial support organizations, GEN works to fuel healthier start and scale ecosystems that create jobs, educate individuals, accelerate innovation and strengthen economic growth. For details on the programs and initiatives that make up GEN, visit genglobal.org and follow @unleashingideas on Twitter.
