The following opinion piece is the second in a series by communication specialist and development writer – Mr. Demion McTair. The series is called Communication for Development.
We need to unleash the true entrepreneurial and innovative potential of our people, and a national award with political weight such as a prime minister’s award for entrepreneurship and innovation can play a major role in getting that done.
While we have grown a lot in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation, we still need a paradigm shift in the way our people view and approach the issues, especially our young people.
There are many problems that need to be solved and many opportunities that need to be exploited.
Whether it’s establishing smart farms to help prevent praedial larceny and combat water issues, turning banana leaves into eco-friendly disposable cups and plates to fight plastic pollution at our landfills and waterways, coming up with advanced technologies to harvest or process “tri tri,” making organic fertilizer, producing cooking gas from wet waste, producing pharmaceuticals, making products from sargassum seaweed, or creating a new culinary hit that can be uniquely Vincentian, there are many challenges that can be thrown out to attract proposals to address the aforementioned issues and others.
Throwing out an annual challenge to solicit solutions and proposals to solve them will be a huge stepping stone to converting some parochial mindsets into active and inquiring citizen participants ready to contribute to the country.
This publication will focus on defining entrepreneurship and innovation, giving a brief background on entrepreneurship and innovation in SVG, and discussing a proposal to have an annual national award for entrepreneurship and innovation.
What is entrepreneurship?
Barringer and Ireland (2018) said that Entrepreneurship is about identifying or creating new opportunities, evaluating these opportunities, and exploiting the opportunities by either creating new firms or doing new activities in existing organisations.
“Entrepreneurial Opportunities are situations in which new goods, services, raw materials, and organising methods can be introduced and sold for a value greater than their costs of production” (Barringer & Ireland, 2018).
For example, there has been marked growth in the tourism sector in SVG with the current and planned construction of several new hotels and more airlift into the country. These developments will create voids that need to be filled or problems that need solutions. These voids to be filled or problems to be solved create many opportunities for people who provide transportation, food and beverage services, tours, maintenance, and security. The process of entrepreneurship will be to identify these opportunities, evaluate them to see if they would be financially and operationally feasible, and then take risks to exploit the opportunities. The end result of this process will likely be the creation of some new product or service.
What is innovation?
Barringer and Ireland (2018) said Entrepreneurial firms facilitate the process of Innovation – Innovation is the process of creating something new (a central element of the entrepreneurial process). High levels of Innovation can also stimulate a country’s global competitiveness (i.e. makes the country more competitive in comparison to other countries).
A very brief background on entrepreneurship and innovation in SVG
Now, there have always been entrepreneurs and innovators in pre and post-independence SVG, but in recent times, the current generation has taken things to new heights with consistent production of soap and beauty products, sea moss products, condiments, and confectionary, and bottled water, among others.
The Diamond Dairy which was operational in the 1980s exported flavored milk products, the exportation of high-end flowers, successfully commercially cultivated grapes, produced coconut oil, and other products are just a few examples of SVG’s innovative past.
In modern times, help has also come from development partners such as Taiwan and others which have invested thousands in development for women entrepreneurs and business people in the country.
Financial support systems such as PRYME and PRYME Plus have also helped to open many doors for people to begin journeys in business and entrepreneurship.
There are also notable annual science and technology events hosted by VINLEC and the Ministry of Education, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, and others to inspire young people into innovation.
Still, more needs to be done to market the idea of entrepreneurship and innovation in the minds of our people in an effort to unleash the true entrepreneurial and innovative spirit and potential.
The Proposal
The annual USD $10,000 Prime Minister’s Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Each year, the Office of the Prime Minister should announce the opening of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Challenge.
Specific themes should be given, and they can surround the sustainable development goals or national development needs.
They can also focus on specific things. For instance, if the challenge is specific, it could look like this:
“St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a signatory to the Sustainable Development Goals, two of which address the protection of land and water. One of the main threats to water and land is the disposal of plastics. Although recycling programs have been implemented to help reduce the impact of plastics in our waters and landfills, more needs to be done. We have also banned single-use plastic bags and styrofoam containers. Of particular concern, however, is the heavy use of plastic containers and cups. Create a biodegradable alternative product using local materials”.
If, however, the challenge is not specific, entrepreneurs and innovators can come up with their own innovations, based on the general themes given.
Duration
The challenge should be open for six months and should target people 18 years and over who reside in SVG.
Funding opportunities for people who need financing to take up the challenge
Some people might need some start-up capital to help develop their ideas. Financial stakeholders and development partners can be approached to have information-sharing sessions on grant and loan financing at the start of the challenge, and they can have people pitch their ideas. It will be the responsibility of the participants to protect their ideas at the Commerce and Intellectual Property Office.
Stakeholders
The Commerce and Intellectual Property Office, the Center for Enterprise Development, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the University of the West Indies, the Embassy of the Republic of China in Taiwan, and others can be key stakeholders in the challenge to provide guidance, judging, and quality assurance.
Judging
Judging should be done by the academic institutions mentioned above.
Judging criteria
Some of the factors that can be looked at are potential national impact of the product or service in solving a problem or meeting a need, potential regional impact, general feasibility, and and production cost, among other factors.
Public showcase
A public showcase of the ideas, products, or services can be arranged before the announcement of the award.
A media showcase of the top ten ideas, products, or services can be done before the announcement of the Award.
The Award
The announcement of the overall winner can be announced at the National Independence Rally or at another notable event.
The award of USD $10,000 is attractive enough and will not break the government’s coffers.
Invest SVG can be engaged to document and help promote, regionally and internationally, the ideas, products, and services that don’t win.
Closure
Let us have more Vincentians being inspired by entrepreneurship and innovation and have more quality Vincentian products and services on the market. Let us also show that our people can contribute to solving some of the problems faced by the world as we seek to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
A prestigious National Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation can greatly contribute to us achieving this by inspiring our people to think bigger and to receive good recognition for their entrepreneurial ventures and innovative ideas.
What are your thoughts?