Many countries across the globe face unprecedented challenges, ranging from unemployment and inequality to climate change and impending workforce displacement by automation. Many of the solutions rely on a robust private sector that can deliver services, develop and scale innovative solutions and complement public sector interventions. In this context, well-developed entrepreneurship ecosystems provide the bedrock for a robust private sector by facilitating the creation, growth, and exit of businesses.

The various components of an entrepreneurship ecosystem – policy and regulatory environment, culture, finance, skills, supporting services, and market access – interact dynamically and in highly context-specific ways. Understanding of this ecosystem can provide valuable information for policy makers on the priorities for interventions aimed at supporting private sector development in their countries.

The webinar will present several methodologies for analyzing entrepreneurship and start-up activity in a country. Speakers will present case-studies based on the work implemented in Suriname, Serbia, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh, Palestine, Lebanon and other countries. These methodologies (or diagnostic tools) help not only understand constraints to innovation and entrepreneurship, but also compare performance vis-a-vis peer countries. The information they provide represents a necessary step toward a response – policy reforms, change in program design and resourcing, or a specific intervention, helping policy practitioners identify suitable entry points, justify interventions, and achieve consensus for key priorities and a course of action.