U. will develop technology course for African women
Marisa Calleja
Issue date: 3/11/08 Section: Campus News
Angus Kingon, professor of engineering, and a team of graduate students will develop a course on technology innovation for the University of Cape Town in South Africa as part of an initiative introduced this month by the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which seeks to bring business education to 10,000 women in developing countries.
The 10,000 Women initiative, which the bank announced March 5, will get $100 million from Goldman Sachs over the next five years to develop new markets, raise the rate of GDP growth in developing countries and create business ventures that can compete internationally.
The initiative will rely largely upon partnerships of American and British institutions with institutions abroad. Brown is the only American university participating in the program that is not a business school. In partnering with the University of Cape Town, Brown builds on a pre-existing relationship formed by faculty and student exchanges in the past, said Kingon, who is originally from South Africa.
Kingon's project seeks to develop teaching methods to build "entrepreneurship capacity" within Africa to create successful businesses that can bring African nations on a level playing field with the developed world, he said. This, he said, can be achieved by focusing on technology innovation.
"Most programs like this create microenterprises" that give jobs to a few people, Kingon said. "That's not what we're trying to do. We want to create growing jobs that can compete in the world economy."
At the University of Cape Town, about 220 students in engineering and business graduate programs will take part in the pilot program, according to Goldman Sachs' Web site. Along with Kingon, graduate students in Brown's Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship will also help measure the results of the partnership. The pilot program will eventually spread beyond the graduate level to teach other students, Kingon said.
"Brown is particularly well known for social entrepreneurship," said Vasuki Nesiah, director of international affairs at Brown. "Right now, that is known nationally. This makes it global."
The 10,000 Women initiative, which the bank announced March 5, will get $100 million from Goldman Sachs over the next five years to develop new markets, raise the rate of GDP growth in developing countries and create business ventures that can compete internationally.
The initiative will rely largely upon partnerships of American and British institutions with institutions abroad. Brown is the only American university participating in the program that is not a business school. In partnering with the University of Cape Town, Brown builds on a pre-existing relationship formed by faculty and student exchanges in the past, said Kingon, who is originally from South Africa.
Kingon's project seeks to develop teaching methods to build "entrepreneurship capacity" within Africa to create successful businesses that can bring African nations on a level playing field with the developed world, he said. This, he said, can be achieved by focusing on technology innovation.
"Most programs like this create microenterprises" that give jobs to a few people, Kingon said. "That's not what we're trying to do. We want to create growing jobs that can compete in the world economy."
At the University of Cape Town, about 220 students in engineering and business graduate programs will take part in the pilot program, according to Goldman Sachs' Web site. Along with Kingon, graduate students in Brown's Program in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship will also help measure the results of the partnership. The pilot program will eventually spread beyond the graduate level to teach other students, Kingon said.
"Brown is particularly well known for social entrepreneurship," said Vasuki Nesiah, director of international affairs at Brown. "Right now, that is known nationally. This makes it global."