Paris, 24–25 November 2022: Best practices on promoting the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in innovation ecosystems were discussed at the first forum of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Entrepreneurship Education Collaboration and Engagement (EECOLE), participated in by  representatives from OECD countries, Latin America, and Asia.

EECOLE is a global initiative that operates on the crossroads of entrepreneurship, education, employment, innovation, and regional development. It provides a platform for HEIs, businesses, governments, and civil society to develop tools to promote entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial skills, and to share knowledge and experience on how to strengthen collaboration between educational institutions and their communities.

HEIs have an important role to play in innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems as they produce research that can be transferred to markets, and train, reskill, and upskill students and lifelong learners. They can be important actors of change by connecting peripheral areas to global research and innovation networks.

Dr Giulia Ajmone Marsan, Director for Strategy and Partnership at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and the institute’s representative at the forum, shared information on current trends on entrepreneurship education across ASEAN and East Asia. She moderated the EECOLE Supporting Entrepreneurial Skills session of the forum and joined the discussion of the EECOLE steering group of which she is a member.

The role of HEIs in innovation ecosystems is one of the areas covered by ERIA’s Entrepreneurship-Startup-Innovation Knowledge Lab. Recent ERIA knowledge products covering these issues include Mapping Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: An Overview, and Entrepreneurship, Start-Ups, and Innovation (E-S-I) in ASEAN and East Asia: Catalysing Collaborations and Partnerships for Scale-Ups-Ep.6-10.