Michał Dżoga, Head of Corporate Affairs (CEE Region)
Personally, I feel very passionate about ensuring we provide the best possible future young people entrepreneurs, who are working tirelessly in this challenging economic climate. Shockingly, youth unemployment in Europe was estimated at 23% in 2013 according to the EU Labour Force Survey, which is still alarmingly high. It is clear that Europe is in desperate need for a solution to the skills crisis and practical training to foster the next generation of entrepreneurs.
This is exactly why Intel has recently been involved in the International Congress on “Entrepreneurial Skills for Youth” organised by JADE, the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises. Held between 6th and 9th March, it was fantastic to see young budding entrepreneurs flocking to Brussels in Belgium, to hear from businesses, policy makers and academics. It was great to see the enthusiasm of these young people who are striving to succeed, and it is vital that we support this ambition and talent, as we know in technology trial and error can often lead to a unplanned successes.
In total, we saw 220 Junior Entrepreneurs from 17 countries, summing over 20 nationalities, uniting to debate and explore the role and development of entrepreneurial skills in young people. The event also looked to offer hands-on experience, developing both the soft skills and technical skills of the participants, as well as supporting them in their own entrepreneurial initiatives. We were particularly keen to support this event as we see a real alignment of goals with some of our own activities, such as Intel Business Challenge Europe. IBCE is aimed at empowering youth with the necessary entrepreneurial skills and finalists of the challenge have created 1,900 jobs and raised over $56M funding over last 8 years. Events like this are a real opportunity to showcase some of the best young talent out there, which will underpin the economic success of the future.
In terms of financial investment, we commit $100m globally each year to support education, science and entrepreneurship, and women empowerment in more than 70 countries as well as endless man hours to make these events, schemes and goals happen. Particularly in Europe we intend to support the EU Agenda 2020 goals to mitigate youth unemployment, enhance R&D investment and decrease school dropout rates. As well as monetary investment, we are prioritizing giving young people hands-on experience and an invaluable support network which is crucial to entrepreneurial success.
Collaboration between educational establishments and initiatives, governments and businesses as vital to reaching our ultimate goal of combatting the skills shortage and developing a generation who can support and grow the European economy. It was humbling to meet so many inspiring young people at this fantastic event with JADE, and we look forward to many more collaborations of this nature in the future.
