NJIT Directs the 2018 Academy of the International Council for Small Business in Taipei
The Academy of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) is an intensive, weeklong entrepreneurship boot camp. Sponsored by ICSB, the world’s oldest academic organization dedicated to entrepreneurship, the Academy guides students through diverse aspects of entrepreneurship, including opportunity discovery, business model validation, digital marketing and sales — all in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. NJIT entrepreneurship students and faculty from Martin Tuchman School of Management (MTSM) have participated in all ICSB Academies: Dubai in 2015, New York in 2016, Buenos Aires in 2017 and, most recently, Taipei.
The 2018 ICSB Academy brought more than 60 university students and dozens of educators, entrepreneurs and policymakers from around the world to Taipei. With support from MTSM Dean Reggie Caudill, the 2017 and 2018 ICSB Academies were managed by NJIT MBA graduate Miriam Helmy ’18 and directed by Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship Cesar Bandera and Immediate Past President of ICSB Luca Iandoli.
The ICSB Academy is one of the many activities of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at MTSM, which offers undergraduate and graduate major and minor concentrations, prepares students for entrepreneurial careers in startups and in established companies, and offers experiential opportunities outside the classroom so that students can refine their skills and innovations in competitive real-world settings.
“MTSM’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship program participates in the ICSB Academy because it exposes students to a global entrepreneurial ecosystem. Students work directly with entrepreneurs, financiers, instructors and dignitaries from around the world,” said Bandera. “Moreover, the Academy’s coordination with the United Nations and its Sustainable Development Goals maintains students focused on opportunities with high societal impact. For these reasons, we are one of the few I&E programs in the world that has participated in the Academy every year.”
