International Student Energy Summit

The International Student Energy Summit (ISES) is an international congress to be held in Calgary, Canada on June 11-13 2009. The conference is entirely organized by a group of students looking for creative ideas and contributions on the global energy transition that the world is entering. For its inaugural edition, the meeting will take place in Calgary, which is the Canadian energy capital, home to about 2000 energy industry companies.

The conference will focus on three main pillars that address today’s key energy issues: Global Energy Cooperation, Technology & Innovation and Finance, Regulation and Sustainability. On this occasion, worldwide energy leaders will participate along 500 students from different disciplines. Samuel Biondo, US department of Energy, Gustav Grob, Executive Secretary ISEO/ICEC and John Huckerby, Executive Officer of AWATEA, will be some of the featured speakers. The meeting will not only have lectures, but it will also include brainstorming sessions, case studies and networking opportunities.

If you are interested in the conference, you can register now by paying a fee of $ 695 CAD, which covers access to the conference, conference materials and meals. However, there is also a contest through which you can obtain a subsidy which covers the conference fee and also gives you accommodation for 4 days in Calgary. To enter the contest you must produce a presentation which focuses on an energy issue that is relevant to your region, discussing how it is impacting your region and proposing creative solutions that could help solve the issue. Submissions must be in one of two forms, video or essay. For further information, please visit the official site.

Published by Josué Gil Deza

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MIT Global Startup Workshop 2009

The MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW) will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on March 25-27. The GSW is a conference focused on fostering entrepreneurship through the support of the MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each year, about 30 MIT students organize the 3 day conference in close collaboration with partners from a different host country in order to discuss practical steps that can be taken by students, academic faculty, venture capitalists, government leaders, entrepreneurs, and top business leaders. Since its inaugural conference at MIT in 1998, the MIT GSW has been hosted in Singapore, Spain, Australia, Italy, China, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, and Norway.

The conference will feature keynote speakers such as Jonathan Ortmans, president of the Public Forum Institute, Jessica Flannery is a co-founder of Kiva.org and Kenneth P. Morse, Managing Director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center. There will also be panels, discussion forums and networking sessions.

One of the aims of the conference is to share practices in running entrepreneurial support organizations and to form a global networks of leaders in venture creation. One of the ways of achieving it is through the Elevator Pitch Competition, a contest created for students and innovators from around the world to have an opportunity to pitch their ideas, and collect feedback in front of a leading network of venture capitalists and investment communities. There will be an instance during the conference in which participants can present a brief overview (no more than 60 seconds) of an idea for a product, service, or project. The presentation will be judged on different aspects, and the winners will receive prizes of up to US$ 1000.

If you are interested in participating of this year’s Workshop, you can register until February 28 and qualify for the early bird fee of $400 which covers attendance to the workshop and conference materials. You can also get special hotel deals for participating in the conference. We hope you are able to take advantage of this unique opportunity!

Published by Josué Gil Deza

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Impressions of the World Economic Forum

The 39th edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) took place from January 28th until February 1st, in the city of Davos, Switzerland. The main subject of the conference was “Shaping the Post-Crisis World”, and was marked by the global financial crisis, the Middle East conflict, and the United States president Barrack Obama’s “honey moon”.

Suggested by Victoria Brandi, I read an article published in La Nación on January 29th, and I would like to point out a strong statement by magnate George Soros: “The problem is bigger than the one in the ‘30″, making reference to the Great Depression. Beyond the similarities and differences highlighted by the specialists, this phrase lets us analyse two factors: its possible duration and the risk of applying importation taxes.

Firstly, besides suffering the consequences of a crisis that was born in the heart of the system, the uncertainty of how long it is going to last is extensive. The mere idea of re-living an era of depression, in a tremendously globalised context, is terrifying.

Secondly, the spooky figure of economic protectionism, that could deepen the consequences, is “a necessary evil”, according to the French Minister of Economy.

United States is planning to introduce the “Buy American” policy in the acquisition of steel and India warns out that they could have the same reaction against the barriers of international commerce.

Let’s hope that the debates at Davos have been beneficial, in order to continue with an ensemble effective action, and that the juncture finds us in a better situation for the next G-20 summit.

Published by Maximiliano Simcic

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