Educational Innovation: Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP)-University of Technology Bahrain
Education_BH: Innovation and Excellence celebrates the remarkable innovations implemented in Bahrain’s schools and universities. We learned about these innovations, the process, the challenges, and the lessons learned from some of the leading educational institutions in the Kingdom. Read more in our latest issue.
An initiative to equip aspiring entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills, and resources required to establish and manage their ventures.
Please share a brief background of your innovation:
The Entrepreneurship Development Program is an innovative educational initiative to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with the knowledge, skills, and resources required to establish and manage a thriving business. These programs offer a holistic and comprehensive curriculum that includes instructional sessions, interactive workshops, mentorship opportunities, networking events, and access to financial support and resources.
The curriculum encompasses various aspects of entrepreneurship, including market analysis, strategic business planning, financial literacy, marketing strategies, and sales techniques, among others. The overarching objective of these programs is to equip participants with the tools and insights necessary to transform their entrepreneurial aspirations into a thriving reality.
These programmes aim to educate and engage the students about entrepreneurship. The curriculum is designed to encompass the various aspects of industrial activity, including project profile preparation, marketing, pricing, export opportunities, financial management, and accounting and Apps development.
How was the innovation planned?
In its effort to support Innovation and Entrepreneurship and align itself with Bahrain’s Vision 2030, the College of Financial and Administrative Sciences (CAFS) at the University of Technology Bahrain decided to conduct its first Entrepreneurship exhibition, which showcases student projects for Capstone A and B. In the past year, CAFS has decided to pioneer a new program – the Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP) – to replace its traditional thesis (Capstone A and B) program, which required students to graduate. This decision is in line with HEC recommendations to enhance entrepreneurship education in universities and increase critical thinking and entrepreneurial skills in undergraduate students
What were the challenges faced during implementation?
Entrepreneurship, as a dynamic and adaptable force, presents a unique opportunity to navigate the complexities of the post-COVID-19 world. By embracing risk and identifying new opportunities, entrepreneurs expand the options available to society as it strives towards a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient future. So we faced big challenges to align and meet the market during post-COVID-19 with pure transformation on technology. Furthermore, benchmarking with different higher education institutions was another challenge.
Therefore, UTB actively fosters a culture where entrepreneurial learning is pervasive. Our focus is on equipping future leaders with soft and core skills, including problem-solving; team-building; and transversal competencies – such as learning to learn, social and civic responsibility, initiative-taking, and cultural sensitivity. We are training Beyonders to be at the vanguard of spurring new economic growth and address novel challenges the world faces.
Give us a brief assessment of your results.
The success of EDP It is worth mentioning that all student projects were sustainable and focused on several factors including the novelty of the project to the Bahrain market Scalability of the project in the future Contribution to Bahrain’s GDP and revenue diversification goal Net zero emissions Examples of the projects pitched include:
‘Welcome to Bahrain’ website that includes all tourism activities, hotels and restaurants that can be booked from a one-stop-shop to encourage tourism in Bahrain.
‘Smart Helmet’ was designed by a group of engineers and business students. The helmet can be used by riders of any open vehicle including bikes, motorcycles, and scooters. The ‘smart’ helmet will allow users to answer phone calls and listen to GPS directions through built-in Bluetooth. Added features included external helmet lights that indicate directions and an SOS system upon impact.
‘Out2Spot’ website allows shoppers to book their parking spot in malls for a pre-determined time frame before their arrival. Not only does this reduce traffic in malls but also carbon emissions.
In hindsight, what were the most valuable lessons learned while implementing the innovation? Could things have been done differently?
The program created opportunities to highlight students’ work, skills and talent to the community. Student showcases are an opportunity to connect students to the broader community, by giving Practical Experiences. The main idea behind project work is to make sure that the learner does their research and comes up with practical solutions to the concept they are trying to learn or the problem that they are trying to solve this is one of the lessons learned to mix between theoretical and practical based markets need and getting the right counselling from the experts while presenting the ideas
