@AucklandUniInnovation and entrepreneurship have emerged as essential ingredients for responding to the world’s economic and societal challenges and opportunities. The University of Auckland plays a pivotal role in entrepreneurship in New Zealand through its roles as an educator of graduates with entrepreneurial capabilities, and as a creator of knowledge and ideas addressing business and social issues, that stimulates the formation of new enterprises (commercial and social), and promotes innovation within existing firms and organisations.
In recent years the University has significantly increased its commitment to drive entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland and its community. While the University previously held isolated pockets of excellence in entrepreneurship, the new vision for the University is to have entrepreneurship as a core component of the University’s identity and operations. In order to make this concept a success, we need to ingrain an entrepreneurial mindset within our staff and students. This means extending entrepreneurship education opportunities for students and staff at all levels (undergraduate and postgraduate), for students and staff of all disciplines and broadening the definition and understanding of entrepreneurship, beyond the commercialisation of research. The University of Auckland has massively expanded its potential to enable the entrepreneurial potential in others through the development of an overarching innovation and entrepreneurship strategy, hiring and enabling specialist staff and through the creation of resources. These include the establishment of a world-class innovation hub and makerspace, an inventors fund and investment committees, a global presence with off-shore spaces, extra-curricular programmes and integration of entrepreneurship within curricula.
