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University Business School secures one million euros in EU funding to support business growth across Indonesia

​The Business School has secured one million euros of EU funding to develop entrepreneurial capacity amongst graduates and local communities across Indonesia. The project, funded by the Erasmus+ CBHE (Capacity Building in Higher Education) fund is entitled “Growing Indonesia – a Triangular Approach”.

It will run until October 2020 and involves the creation of Growth Hubs in Indonesian universities. With a population of over 260 million, Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s largest economy and the world’s fourth most populous nation. There is a lack of entrepreneurial culture and current support for start-ups is fragmented. This demands a more coordinated approach by educational institutions, government bodies and industry in building Indonesia’s capacity, reducing reliance on foreign labour and outward economic migration.

The planned Growth Hubs will be physical spaces where academics, students, graduates, start-ups and enterprises come together to share ideas. Together with a Learning Network and online resources the Growth Hub model is an emerging initiative across the UK.

The project consortium, led by the University’s Business School, brings together four European and seven Indonesian universities. European partners include; Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), Fachhochschule des Mittelstands (Germany), University of Innsbruck (Austria) and the Universities in Indonesia, President University Jakarta, Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung Universitas Negeri Semarang in Semarang, Universitas Brawijaya and STIE Malangkucecwara in Malang, as well as Universitas Ahmad Dahlan and Universitas Islam Indonesia in Yogyakarta.

The first official meeting, hosted by President University, took place on the 7 and 8 December in Jakarta and was followed by a four-day workshop led by Dublin Institute of Technology who introduced their HEInnovate (entrepreneurial) diagnostic tool. The tool, previously developed with the help of EU funding, is designed to assist universities in assessing and proactively developing their innovative and entrepreneurial potential. It’s application by the seven Indonesia partner universities marked the first step towards realising the vision of the project.

The project “Growing Indonesia – a Triangular Approach” is led by Professor Neil Towers who is the Lead for Research in the University of Gloucestershire Business School. Professor Towers is assisted by the University’s Funding Manager, Gideon Capie, and the Business School’s Lead for International Development, Nadine Sulkowski. The first official meeting, hosted by President University, took place on the 7th and 8th December in Jakarta and was followed by a four-day workshop led by Dublin Institute of Technology who introduced their HEInnovate (entrepreneurial) diagnostic tool. The tool, previously developed with the help of EU funding, is designed to assist universities in assessing and proactively developing their innovative and entrepreneurial potential. It’s application by the seven Indonesia partner universities thus marked the first step towards realising the vision of the project.