In the spirit of marking the 2019 World Creativity and Innovation Day in Ghana, the Embassy of Israel in a partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) in collaboration with Impact Hub Accra and Ghana Chamber of Technology hosted two creativity and innovation workshops on Thursday May 2.
These workshops contributed to the knowledge transfer of Israel’s innovative and entrepreneurial drive in Ghana. They were targeted at the government and the startup ecosystems in Ghana. The innovation and creativity workshop was organized under the theme “Israel – Ghana Innovation Ecosystems - How do we stimulate a strong innovation subculture in an emerging economy”.
Led by Mr. Oren Simanian, an Israeli Entrepreneur, Innovator & Sports Tech Leader, the government workshop provided insight into Israel’s innovation journey and how the government of Ghana can strategize in realizing the innovation potentials of Ghana. It brought together officials from various government institutions such as ministries, agencies, departments and universities. One major take away was for the government of Ghana to establish an innovation office in their various ministries and agencies.
The second workshop which was targeted at the startupist and various young innovation hubs provide real and practical tools that enhanced their innovation and creativity drive. The participants came from various tech startup organizations and hubs and where in various stages of their startup business. Mr. Simanian took them through practical exercises such as pitching, funding among others.
In its resolution A/RES/71/284, the UN General Assembly called for international recognition of April 21 as World Creativity and Innovation Day; a day to raise awareness of the role of creativity and innovation in problem-solving and by extension, in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
For the past 10 years, Mr. Simanian has been a leading contributor to the Israeli and international Entrepreneurship & Innovation scene, with 65 international entrepreneurial talks including TEDx, 150+ Events, 20+ programs and various innovation forums.