Developed by the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley, the Intel Technology Entrepreneurship Programme includes curriculum, model business plan competitions, in-classroom exercises and other tools that university professors can use to educate technical graduates on the basics of entrepreneurship, seeking to create truly innovative business people with cross-disciplinary skills, technical expertise and the ability to seize market opportunities. This programme is best implemented by combining university curriculum and hands on expertise provided by entrepreneurs local to the university.

“The ‘Technology Entrepreneurship – Theory to Practice’ seminars are designed to foster technological innovation across the Middle East” said Bassem Nasir, Intel Higher Education Manager, Middle East, Turkey and Africa. “Operated in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, these seminars represent the first stage in a wider Intel programme, designed to encourage entrepreneurship, create additional jobs and promote essential support services.”

Each two-day Intel Technology Entrepreneurship seminar aims to inspire and train academic staff from technology-oriented faculties about how to better equip students with entrepreneurial skills, by integrating the topic into their own programmes. Key topics covered will include ‘building a curriculum’ and ‘creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem’.

Intel’s Higher Education Program focuses on advancing innovation in key areas of technology, as well as developing a pipeline of world-class technical talent for Intel’s future workforce and the global knowledge-based economy. In 2004 alone, Intel funded 456 individual research grants and sponsored 212 scholarships/fellowships. This support for higher education curricula and research currently extends to more than 110 universities in more than 30 countries worldwide.