Connecting Global Startup Communities and Priorities

A private discussion on how to enable global entrepreneurs 

#GES2016

— hosted by —GES2016-partners

Recap

On June 22nd, in the Google for Entrepreneurs lounge space, 40 entrepreneurs from 20+ countries came together for a discussion about how governments and public policy can support ecosystems that foster entrepreneurship and innovation. The hosts — the Global Innovation Forum, the Copia Institute, Startup Chile, Allied for Startups, and the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MAGIC) — helped guide a conversation among participants including global startups, U.S. companies, the U.S. State Department and USAID, international organizations including the World Bank and foreign governments.

The discussion also featured entrepreneurs from Chile, Kenya, Germany, Malaysia, Nepal, Aruba, Estonia, Israel, Jordan, Brazil, China, France, Norway, Ireland, and Indonesia, who came together to share experiences, build a network of globally-minded thinkers, and discuss shared priorities and challenges for the future.

Key themes across startups included the importance of access to capital, STEM education, safe harbors for online platforms, immigration reform and ease of movement for entrepreneurs, constraints on the free flow of information from overly rigid systems, promoting digital trade, the role of trade agreements in the success of startups, and how startups can support each other to match established industries who have spent decades on government affairs.

GES2016

The Program

The Global Innovation Forum moderated a small group discussion among startup, corporate and government leaders to discuss the challenges featuring startups as they engage in the global marketplace and the public policy foundations necessary to their success.

Discussants included —

Hani Alami, Chairman, JEST // Tonje Bakang, Co-Founder, Afrostream // Jochai Ben-Avie, Senior Global Policy Manager, Mozilla // Kenneth Carter, Counsel, CloudFlare, Inc. // Jake Colvin, Executive Director, Global Innovation Forum // Ashran Dato’ Ghazi, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) // Rocio Fonseca, Executive Director, Startup Chile // Max Green, Public Policy and Government Relations Analyst , Reddit // Charlie Hale, Head of Public Policy, Pinterest // Eunice Mueni Kariuki, Director, Partnerships, Innovation and Capacity, ICT Authority, Nairobi, Kenya // Dani Larson, Global Partnerships, GAN // Mike Masnick, CEO, Copia Institute // Michael McGeary, Board Member, Allied for Startups // Amy Millington, President, eBay Foundation // Lindsey Nguyen, Head of Product, SwiftComply // Katie Oyama, Senior Policy Counsel, Google // Heather Strachan, VilCap Communities Global Lead, Village Capital // Vu Van, Founder & CEO, ELSA