https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/centre-for-innovation-and-entrepreneurshipThe University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) is a community that provides opportunities for students and staff across all faculties at the University of Auckland to develop entrepreneurial mindsets and innovative capability. By developing our people for innovative careers or start-up creation we are also building a future of prosperity for Aotearoa, New Zealand and creating a world of opportunity. CIE nurtures groundbreaking ideas and enables participants to help activate those ideas into start-ups that challenge the status quo and enable social, environmental and economic prosperity. Whether students and staff want to develop their innovation and technology skills, get expert advice on their big idea or build confidence and capability to build a start-up, this is their safe space to experiment and grow their future. We pride ourselves on providing students and staff with free access to award-winning educational resources to learn and develop through our programmes, workshops and seminars. These opportunities will equip our community to stand out and create value, both professionally and personally, with a view to ultimately help them to make an impact.
5th PLACE
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Activators of the Year Award
Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at University of Auckland
5th PLACE Innovation and Entrepreneurship Activators of the Year Award
The University of Auckland - New Zealand
"A world of opportunity"
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Summary
Images
Darsel Keane - Director of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship team
CIE Academic Director Professor Rod McNaughton
CIE Entrepreneurial Fellow Dr Deborah Shepherd
Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellow Peter Rachor
CIE's Start-up Studio
Velocity student leadership committee
Unleash Space makerspace
IMPACT STORY
Impacting lifes
Since its inception in 2003, CIE has supported tens of thousands of individuals and generated many industry leaders in established businesses as well as founders of start-ups. The most recent audit shows that CIE alumni have created 292 ventures and 3,300 jobs and raised over $3.25 billion in investment.
In the last decade CIE has delivered numerous achievements in not only the quantity but also the quality of education it delivers, which it measures through participation rates, participant composition, pre and post participation entrepreneurial mindset surveys and Net Promoter Score (satisfaction measurement).
In 2023 CIE had a record number of 7,511 unique individuals with over 17,000 interactions. This represents 15% of the University of Auckland’s student population.
LEARNINGS
Lessons learned
Innovation comes from diversity of knowledge and perspectives. The ability for CIE to bring together students and staff from a wide range of stages and disciplines for interdisciplinary experiential learning and collaboration has been core to its success.
CIE’s approach to innovation and entrepreneurship education is focused on enabling the University of Auckland’s goal to develop graduates who will make the world better tomorrow than it is today. A significant way the University does this is through developing innovative and entrepreneurial talent who go on to develop solutions to support economic, social and environmental prosperity.
Utilising the UNSDGs as a teaching framework and incorporating local and global problem solving as an engagement narrative has supported CIE to attract participants from a wide range of subject areas including science and the arts and humanities, on top of its established base of business and engineering participants.
Partnership has been another core way that CIE has been able to expand its reach. This has involved everything from partnering with student clubs to deliver hackathons, to partnering with diverse university departments on initiatives.
In order to create advocates and champions within the university, demonstrating value has been essential. CIE has put effort into measurement to show impact, as well as to inform programme design and a continuous improvement process.
Substantial evidence has led to the University recognising CIEs legacy and future potential. As a result, CIE’s recent restructure and growth to a team of 13 has enabled further capability and growth in programme delivery.
FUTURE PLANS
What's coming?
CIE’s impact is only set to grow, with the recent expansion of its team meaning increased capability to unleash potential. The University’s strategic plan articulates a bold ambition to become an international powerhouse of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, and CIE will be a key actor to support this work.
In the immediate future, CIE wants to build on early work to support Māori (First Nation) students and develop new initiatives to support Pacific students.
CIE is also in the consultation and development phase of its next strategic plan, which will develop a framework to deliver opportunities that will provide inspiration and capability building for innovative careers and start-up creation across both curricular and co-curricular programming.
