Right now, all over the world, there are hundreds of millions of people actively trying to start a new business – some out of necessity, some to escape poverty, and others to fulfil a lifetime's ambition. Whatever their motivation, these entrepreneurs are making a dramatic contribution to our world: creating jobs, fostering innovation, and acting as catalysts for economic growth and development.

Discussing the increasingly vital importance of entrepreneurship to the global economy will be two distinguished speakers, Dr Carl J. Schramm, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Doug Richard, Co-founder of Library House, serial entrepreneur and star of the hit BBC series, Dragons' Den, in the forthcoming CMI Distinguished Lecture, in association with Stream UK, which takes place at 2.30pm UK time (9.30am Eastern US time) on Friday 4 November 2005.

Carl Schramm joined the Kauffman Foundation having been an academic, an entrepreneur, and an executive in the health insurance industry. Speaking from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carl Schramm will share some key insights from his forthcoming book, ‘The Entrepreneurial Imperative’. In his book, Carl states that entrepreneurship is in America's DNA, and that by exporting it, the US can foster greater democracy and freedom. Carl will argue that to ensure long-term prosperity, nations must support the entrepreneurial process, while questioning why it is that even in the US, the most entrepreneurial country in the world, there is no good economic model to describe how entrepreneurship fits into the economy at large.

Speaking from Cambridge University, Doug Richard will share his own wealth of experience as a serial entrepreneur in both the UK and the US. As co-founder of Library House, a research and data services company that monitors innovative start-ups from initial investment to IPO or trade sale, Doug has a unique overview of high-tech entrepreneurship in the UK. In his presentation, Doug will identify some of the existing barriers to enterprise, and compare the entrepreneurial climate in the UK to that in the US.

The Lecture will be faciliated by Shai Vyakarnam, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the Judge Business School. The Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL) delivers a range of educational activities on the practise of Entrepreneurship, to inspire and build skills and 'spread the spirit of enterprise' within the University of Cambridge and beyond.

The lecture will be co-chaired by Professor Ed Crawley, Executive Director of the Cambridge-MIT Institute at MIT. The Cambridge-MIT Institute is the pioneering joint venture between two world-class universities - the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Set up in 2000 and supported by the UK government and industrial partners, CMI undertakes education and research activities designed to enhance the competitiveness, productivity and entrepreneurship of the UK economy by: improving the effectiveness of knowledge exchange between universities and industry; educating leaders; and developing programmes for change in universities, industry and government.

Registration

Following the lecture there will be an informal drinks reception for delegates. It is free to attend the lecture, but space is limited.

There is no registration required to attend at MIT. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The lecture starts promptly at 2.30pm local time for audience members in the UK, and 9.30am local time for audience members at MIT in Boston, Massachusetts.

Webcast Information

The lecture is being broadcast live via the world wide web, starting promptly at 2.30pm UK time (9.30am Eastern US time) on Friday 4th November. The address for the live webcast is http://cmi.streamuk.com/4november

Please note: To view the live webcast you will need Windows Media Player. Visit the webcast page http://cmi.streamuk.com/4november in advance and follow the link to the "check" page to make sure you have the required plug-in.

Stream UK specialises in webcasting high profile live events and public lectures. The company was incorporated in 2001 and in addition to webcasting offers a full range of associated services including digital rights management, encoding of archives and delivery of streaming media on-demand.