Together with the Entrepreneurial Czechia Association, CzechInvest held a unique conference titled Czechia’s Entrepreneurial Future on 17 October 2024. With the subtitle “What Data (Doesn’t) Tell Us and How to Move Forward”, the event had the purpose of bringing to light the issue of support for entrepreneurship and to highlight the fact that Czechia lacks key data on entrepreneurship. This situation can be addressed through involvement in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor research project, greater emphasis on interdepartmental cooperation and changes in the education system.
Held at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the Czechia’s Entrepreneurial Future conference was attended by more than 120 participants from the ranks of leading experts on the issue of support for entrepreneurship and business, as well as representatives of the government and public sector, innovation centres, non-profit organisations and the private sector.
“CzechInvest supports entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs through a full range of activities and tools. Despite a number of business successes, we are still struggling with the way business is perceived by certain segments of society. Within families and in education, we should foster the idea among children and youths that they do not necessarily have to be employees someday, but they can also be entrepreneurs and employers. One of the ways to do this is definitely by cultivating a culture of success with good examples that inspire others,” said Jan Michal, CEO of CzechInvest, adding: “The conference has the aim of contributing to the increase of support for entrepreneurship. For that, we need the involvement of key players and a good understanding of the situation, including a sufficient amount of hard data.”
Czechia has not been involved in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) international research project since 2013 and therefore lacks data on the number of people who would like to start their own business, potential new jobs and problems that entrepreneurs face. Most of Europe and a full range of the world’s economies actively use data from GEM in shaping national economic policy, and international organisations, such as the OECD, the World Economic Forum and the European Commission, also work with GEM data.
The experts at the conference agreed that involvement in GEM is crucial for the better future of entrepreneurship in Czechia. Otherwise, it is not possible to formulate an effective strategy to support entrepreneurship. Without data, such support in Czechia will remain random and ineffective, which can have a major impact on the future of our economy.
"GEM uses a bottom-up approach, where every country must have a motivated organisation that will carry out extensive research. As a source of reliable and credible data used by international organisations, GEM enables global comparisons, while keeping people at the centre of interest. It also enables member countries to shape issues and gain international visibility through various reports,” said Anna Tarnawa, head of the Analysis and Strategy Department at the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, whose contribution brought to the conference essential impetuses for the subsequent panel discussion.
Entrepreneurship does not have a clear proponent in any particular department in Czechia – it is dealt with to a certain extent everywhere, but it is not addressed strategically anywhere. Therefore, the organisers initiated a debate involving representatives of key departments, including Petr Očko, Deputy Minister for Digitalisation and Innovation at the Ministry of Industry and Trade; Ondřej Andrys, State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports; and Jana Skalková of the Department of Strategic Activities at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The purpose of the discussion was to uncover obstacles in the area of cooperation and to find ways to establish a strategy to support entrepreneurship in Czechia in order to make state support as effective as possible.
Entrepreneurship involves far more than just the ability to start a business. It is rather a broad set of skills that, taken together, can be described as the ability to be creative, proactive and willing to change things around oneself and to have the will to set out on one’s own path.
“Both the beauty and the curse of entrepreneurship lie in its breadth – we are often unable to imagine it. At the same time, it is one of the key competencies for lifelong learning and for our future. Unfortunately, only 14% of the Czech population sees it that way. It’s true that what we can measure, we can see. Strength lies in systemicity and cooperation. It is necessary to take entrepreneurship into account in all strategies that pertain to it, whether education or economic strategy or employment strategy. It is also necessary to join together and work on it across departments. The role of the Enterprising Czechia Association lies in forming connections so that we can achieve interdepartmental cooperation,” says Anna Kačabová, head of the Enterprising Czechia Association.
The conference became the notional culmination of the year-long PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP project, which is part of the National Recovery Plan, component 1.4 – Digital Economy and Society, Innovative Startups and New Technologies, financed from the European Regional Development Fund. As its name implies, the aim of the project is to promote entrepreneurship, business and the successful founding of new companies throughout Czechia by means of more than 300 educational events and mentoring, consulting and advisory services.
Contact for the media:
David Hořínek
PR Manager and Spokesperson
+420 724 591 667
david.horinek@czechinvest.org