NEWSROOM

University of Auckland wins international award for entrepreneurship education

20 July 2021

The University of Auckland has been awarded an International Council for Small Business (ICSB) Global Award in Entrepreneurship Education Excellence at its 65th world congress, held in Paris. ICSB is the world’s largest international SME organisation dedicated to small business and entrepreneurship.

The award was given to the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) in recognition for it’s Summer Lab programme. Summer Lab is a free four week intensive entrepreneurship programme, open to all current students and staff of the University of Auckland. Over the course of the programme participants learn about the basics of bringing a venture to life as well as foundational skills such as negotiation. Participants then form teams to create a start-up. Some of the start-ups from Summer Lab that have gone on to thrive include building automation company Nikau Robotics, Socius XR – an immersive extended reality platform designed to help neurodiverse people into work, and Hexacycle, a company using maggots to process bio waste, which is now operating in India.

The ICSB Global Awards in Entrepreneurship Education Excellence was created to recognise excellence in entrepreneurship education at a programmatic level. Criteria for the award included novelty and creativity, measurable impact on the programme’s students, impact on society and replicability in other parts of the world. When delivering notice that the University of Auckland had made the finals Dr Ayman El Tarabishy, President and CEO of ICSB wrote “The award was created to recognize excellence in educating tomorrow’s business leaders, today. The Committee has deemed your proposal worthy of the final stages of judging as it encompasses human-centred values as well as demonstrates innovativeness, impact, and reach. Your unique program has the power to change the lives of millions around the world”.

CIE Director Darsel Keane and Programme Manager Judith Marecek gave a 15 minute pitch to the Paris congress via Zoom at midnight, New Zealand time, followed by a 5 minute Q&A prior to final judging. Darsel says winning the ICSB Entrepreneurship Excellence Award has been thrilling for the team at CIE. “ICSB has been advocating for global business since the 1950s. It’s hugely flattering to receive this award, particularly when the other finalists have been so accomplished”.

The 2022 ICSB congress will be held in Washington DC.

Another incredible transition to close up today. See you all at #ICSB2022 in Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/33s8bFQQrB

— ICSB (@ICSB) July 16, 2021