How to build an innovative nation

The business history of America and its recent global e-commerce revolution didn't really start in the boardrooms, but rather in the backyards, car-garages and basements, where small and simple ideas were originally conceived, cooked and later economically incubated into tangibility by like-minded entrepreneurial minds from all over the world residing within its borders. This is what later grew into national and international success stories. To date, Americans are the most innovative nation ever.

So what does it take to create a culture that is so dramatically strong, entrepreneurially-rich and business-savvy in any other country? And what does a close review of the American model teach us, now that its model has been exposed like an open textbook? Two things: lots of backyards full of fresh, small and simple ideas.

What can the UAE do on this front to lead a national entrepreneurial charge? Primarily, by creating large national-scale platforms to encourage the starting of new business ideas, creating a huge volume of public participation all over the country, even starting right at the high-school curriculum level throughout the nation demanding each student to present creative business ideas and to be awarded for originality and research. Such ideas could be expanded further into other layers of society. By opening and encouraging nationwide debates and competitions while creating easy and free access to resources to create, incubate and project those new potential ideas.

Incubation programmes

Few such business incubation programmes already exist in UAE. But imagine if they were carried out on a massively grand, national scale, inspiring passion, competition and the pursuit of big rewards, fully equipped and professionally staffed to nurture and incubate both big and small business concepts, open to the entire population, irrespective of status and nationality, this would create the critical mass necessary to incubate an entrepreneurial nation.

The American model has already proved that it's the people within its borders, who have assimilated from all over the world, who have combined with the collective force of innovation and cross fertilisation, creating dynamic concepts worthy of international attention. Countless super success stories from America have primarily originated from simple concepts and ideas at the grassroots level.

The UAE-wide small and medium enterprise revolution will easily happen when at the grassroots the incubation and early advancement are properly ensured, as upon idea maturity, those concepts will become the genesis of larger scale operations, creating jobs and economic growth in the region. What the UAE can do at this stage is to become a shining beacon of global incubation of ideas, as right now, SME all over UAE are simply suffocated by extremely high logistical costs, with no room for experimentation or innovative adventures. Therefore, they mostly resolve to cookie-cuter, low-risk models with short-lived potential and without room for global attention.

This problem of mass incubation can be seen all over Asia. For example, while India has become a booming playground for businesses as a global leader of IT, it still does not have a single globally recognised brand product or service entirely originated and grown out of India. Despite that Indian talents primarily developed the California's Silicon Valley, yet within its own Indian borders, the incubation and risk taking entrepreneurial skills have been shunned over fear of losing money, or the shame for being an outright failure. While on the other hand, in the USA, most great CEOs had many blown-out and busted projects by the time they made their mark in their early steps to stardom, this is the American way, now followed openly by most G8 countries. The American system encourages risk-taking and preparation for success, while failures along the way become normal elements of the same process; not any different than mastering any sporting skills. This way, national entrepreneurialism is appreciated along the lines of national sport; and losing tough battles becomes part of the road to prosperity.

For the UAE, the mandate to establish a full-fledged national policy covering all aspects of modern incubation, with full logistical and nurturing support will create a great successful model. Further backed by intelligent marketing, world-class branding ideas, and universal cyber-branding technologies, an army of young and old nationals, foreigners and expatriates will join hand in hand to create businesses under the national flag of the UAE, with great zest and an unwavering passion to begin an incubation revolution, The nation is more than ready; all it needs is the grounds to play.

Naseem Javed is a recognised authority on global image positioning and brand name identities. He can be contacted at nj@njabc.com.