Events for SMEs

At CIMR, we host regular events that bring together academics, students, policymakers, practitioners, and professionals from both the public and private sectors to engage in stimulating discussions about innovation, entrepreneurship, and management. Entrepreneurs and employees of SMEs play a key role in our events.

We have organized 24 CIMR Debates in Public Policy since Spring 2020. At least 29 of the speakers at these events were from businesses, the majority of which were small and medium-sized. 19% of attendees were from SMEs, making them the second largest group after participants from universities. Through our events, we collaborate with them to co-create knowledge, tackle the challenges they encounter in the ecosystem, and address global and regional trends affecting SMEs and other businesses.

Through our events and our interactions with the CIMR community, we often facilitate the launch of new collaborations centred on research and practice which have relevant implications for and impacts on SMEs. Some of these are international, some are national. For example as part of CIMR’s collaboration with the Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington DC, a comparative study of developments in quantum technology in London and Washington. This has been undertaken by teams in Kogod and CIMR. See The Emerging Quantum Technology Industry: capital cities, entrepreneurship, and policy here.

We are developing a new collaboration with Vaasa University in Finland which has a strong tradition of research and practice in innovation and entrepreneurship. Melina Padayachy, an alumna, the author of The Innovator’s Method: Bringing New Ideas To Markets, co-organized the CIMR event, A conversation with Touker Suleyman of Dragon’s Den in December 2021. The School will be looking to connect with SMEs through a series of activities including short courses, workshops and bespoke interventions and a portal for SMEs will be created through the Centre for professional development.

Past events for SMEs

The posts below discuss our most recent events, which focused on SME-related subjects.

  • A conversation with Touker Suleyman of Dragon’s Den – Link
  • Innovation Finance: Public or Private? – Link
  • Supporting disabled and ethnic minority entrepreneurs: An engaged scholarship approach to inclusivity – Link
  • Unlocking the potential of Black and ethnic minority entrepreneurs – Link
  • Unlocking the potential of disabled entrepreneurs – Link
  • Entrepreneurship policy through a gender lens – Link
  • Diversity and entrepreneurship – Link
  • Challenges and opportunities for university-business co-creation: comparative perspectives from the UK and US – Link
  • A watershed moment for UK life sciences policy – How broken is it and do we need to fix it? – Link
  • The history and future of entrepreneurship in quantum technology – Link

Want to learn more about CIMR’s Events? Visit the page here.