PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

This is a simple but highly effective presentation, from the USA, on how entrepreneurship can help change the lives of young people from deprived communities. Given the lower rates of entrepreneurial activities within the South Wales Valleys, but the talent that exists amongst young people in these areas, should we be doing something similar in Wales to the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) , which inspires young people from low-income communities to stay in school, to recognize opportunities and to plan for successful futures ? Tanya's Story - A Thought Provoking Look at Youth Entrepreneurship In America View more presentations from Julie Kantor

WESTERN MAIL ARTICLE 23RD JULY 2011 Last week, I came across a profound piece of research from the USA that demonstrates not only the potential of the so-called green economy, but also suggests how government can help develop this sector over time. Called “Sizing the Green Economy” and written by researchers from the Washington-based Brookings Institution , the report claims to be the first comprehensive study of green industries and its impact on the US economy. A video from the launch of the report is shown below In the report, the “green” economy (otherwise known as “clean” or low-carbon) is defined as those industries that produce goods and services with an environmental benefit. These include not only energy developments such as wind farms and solar parks but also green developments in industries such as food and appliance manufacturing, sewage treatment or recycling and a whole range of environmental goods and services. The first major finding from the study is that th...

Whether you love him or hate him, Sir Richard Branson is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th Century. Here is a short interview about his childhood and how that influenced his future career.

I have just closed the annual Fast Growth 50 list for 2011 and following an enormous amount of interest, it is very different to what we have seen in previous years and reflects the changing face of the Welsh economy. Certainly, the overall turnover of the fifty firms will give many people something to think about. Now the real work begins, including writing the 50 profiles and organising the 2011 gala dinner which, judging by last year's response, looks set to be another sell out with over 450 people attending. As it is open to only the sponsors and the fifty companies, here are some of the comments from those who attended the 2010 gala dinner to give you an idea of what I think (obviously!) is the best business awards ceremony in Wales. I just wanted to say a personal thank you from myself and everyone associated with Smart. The evening last night was exceptional (not just because we were on stage..!) and demonstrated that Wales does have a vibrant business community, your ...

Last week, I examined the statistics regarding the differences in public sector employment in Wales. At the time, I was keen to emphasise that it was not a case of “private sector good, public sector bad” but it is important to realise the scale of the problems facing the Welsh business community that has been over-dependent on public sector jobs for the last decade, often at a cost to improving the performance and potential of the private sector in Wales. And there continues to be a debate on the differences between the sectors, although it was a debate that was unfortunately described as ‘sterile’ by the Welsh Government earlier this month. Yet, it is clear that understanding these differences can help us to begin to realise how both sectors can actually learn from each other. Take, for example, the latest report on public and private sector pay from the Office for National Statistics, which indicated that the difference in average earnings across the UK between employees in ...

According to the Western Mail yesterday , a row has broken out as "Labour backs proposals to elect all AMs (Assembly Members) by first-past-the-post" with Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain calling for a change in the voting system in Wales. According to Mr Hain “The only acceptable option given the AV referendum result is to have all AMs elected by first-past-the- post, and we believe that each of the 30 new constituencies should elect two AMs by that system". As is usual with the Labour Party, this was not a rogue voice but part of a co-ordinated campaign and Leighton Andrews had already softened up  members with exactly the same message last week , stating "that they can expect a bid by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition to change the ratio between constituency and regional list AMs". Mr Andrews went on to state that "“There is no electoral mandate for these fundamental changes. No party put it in their General Election manifesto, in their...

A great video from MIT's Industrial Liaison Programme (which the University of Wales belongs to) in which James Dyson discusses his career as well as his thoughts on the future of Western economies. As he comments: “My worry is that complacency in (the U.S. and Britain) that we’re the best engineers and designers will soon be wiped off our faces. Then our problem is we’ll have forgotten how to make things. That’s my depressing view. My optimistic view is we’ll actually turn a corner and start training more engineers, and realize engineering and science are exciting -- there will be a resurgence of science and engineering and we’ll be able to fight off the competition.”

DAILY POST COLUMN 11TH JULY 2011 For a newspaper that has prided itself on publishing scandal, the demise yesterday of the News of World may, one day, come to define the word irony. As soon as the accounts of phonehacking by private detectives allegedly hired by journalists went from listening to the banal conversations of Z-list celebrities to potentially interfering in the judicial and criminal process in this country, it was clear that its owner, Rupert Murdoch, would have to do something radical to save the reputation of the rest of his global media empire. In the business world, such product withdrawals are commonplace as corporations try to salvage their reputation quickly and show the markets that the owners are acting decisively to address the issue at hand. These are usually short term with the product quietly re-introduced later. In the case of the News of the World, it surprised many within the industry that a decision had to be made not to temporarily stop the paper...

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Welsh Government was not interested in a sterile debate over the relative size of the public and private sector. Yet, ignoring the simple facts behind this balance risks continuing the economic decline that has been experienced in Wales over the last decade, especially as statistics suggest that understanding and dealing with the differences could help politicians understand some of the real issues behind the Welsh economy. Let’s examine, for example, what has happened to employment within the private and public sectors during the term of the last Assembly Government? An examination of the official statistics show that there was a fall of 4 per cent in private sector employment in Wales during the period 2007-2010, a reduction of 34,000, with the biggest decreases to be found in Blaenau Gwent (-19%) and Torfaen (-14%), both local authorities within the poorest areas of Wales that are in receipt of billions of pounds of European money. S...

The OECD has recently published a useful companion book to academics, policymakers and practitioners interested in the phenomenon that is entrepreneurship. " Entrepreneurship at a Glanc e" is a new, recurrent publication that presents an original collection of indicators for measuring the state of entrepreneurship along with explanations of the policy context and interpretation of the data. This publication also includes special chapters that address measurement issues, and solutions, concerning entrepreneurship and its determinants. In this first issue, the special topics covered are: business demography and green entrepreneurs. Whilst the book is, unfortunately, not available for free, the press release does give some indication as to the new data available. For example the, statistics on enterprise creations and bankruptcies shows the major impact that the economic and financial crisis has had on entrepreneurial activity.  After a significant decrease in the second...

Daily Post Column July 4th 2011 The last couple of weeks have not been good for the high street across the UK. Thorntons is closing 180 outlets, Jane Norman and Carpetright have gone into administration and TJ Hughes is closing its doors. Not surprisingly, many are blaming the fact that consumers are now cutting back on spending as a result of austerity measures, although others are pointing out that for every shop that goes under, others are actually increasing their market share - John Lewis’ sales were up 20 per cent as compared to a year ago, whilst Debenhams announced that it is creating 600 jobs across its stores. However, it is generally agreed that the high street across the UK is changing and that a number of key factors are largely responsible for the changes. For example, there is increasing use of the internet by consumers, who are able to sit in the comfort of their home and surf the web to find the best, and cheapest, bargains, across a range of retailers. Not surpr...

During the recent ICSB World Conference, we had a keynote speech from Professor Hans Rosling which alone was worth the admission speech. Hans Rosling is Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute and co-ounder and Director of the Gapminder Foundation. Rosling's research has focused on links between economic development, agriculture, poverty and health in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He was listed as one of the 100 leading global thinkers in 2009 by Foreign Policy Magazine and is regular speaker at events such as Davos. Below is an abridged version of the talk he gave in Stockholm. Watch and marvel!

Western Mail article July 2nd 2011 Fifteen years ago, I started my first day as Professor of Small Business Management at the University of Glamorgan and I hope you will forgive me if I use this week’s column to reflect on the period that led me to return to Wales to take up that appointment. It had been an interesting journey in my academic career up until then. I had left my hometown of Pwllheli in 1984 to take my physics degree at University College Cardiff in a department led by the brilliant Professor Robin Williams. However, following my graduation, I had concluded that a scientific career was not for me and went on to undertake a Master’s degree in Technical Change and Industrial Strategy at Manchester University. A unique course, it covered the sociology and economics of innovation and enabled me to dip my toe for the first time into the study of Welsh economic development, as my thesis was entitled “The role of development agencies in promoting innovation amongst sma...