How the Ministry of Digital Transformation creates modern entrepreneurial education in Ukraine and startups like OKTOWN

Valeria Ionan, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation for European Integration

In general, the issue of education, both for small talks and serious professional dialogues, always affects everyone sitting at the table, regardless of where the table is located - in a village, small town, capital or other part of the world.

Why? Because everyone understands that the education system needs to be changed radically. And there are many reasons for this.

The world has accelerated and is changing even faster. Every year, well-known organizations issue forecasts. For example, "High-Tech, Media, and Telecommunications Industry Forecast 2021"by Deloitte, "The world in 2050"by PwC, "World Economic Outlook"by the World Bank.

I personally subscribe to several weekly trend newsletters, which I write about in myTelegram channel.. All of these forecasts are so different, but there is one thing that unites them - no one really knows for sure what our lives will look like in 10-20-30 years.

So, if the education system is not adjusted now for future digital professions, how can we shape the knowledge and skills of our children who will soon go to school and retire in 2070+?

The education system should be not just flexible, but super-flexible. A lot of knowledge is becoming outdated, and there should be effective mechanisms for introducing new ones. To be fair, this is a challenge not only for Ukraine, but for the whole world today, and this is why EdTech is developing so rapidly.

I really like thisthe speech ofby Sir Ken Robinson (a world-renowned expert in education and innovation, author of the short film "Shifting Education Paradigms") in 2010, which remains relevant today. In particular, the phrase: "Children are afraid to make mistakes, and by the way, this is how we run companies. And we don't forgive mistakes, and the same applies to the general education system, where the worst thing you can do is make a mistake. This is how creativity is taken away, and then we outgrow it and lose it."

That is why many gifted people do not consider themselves gifted. In his speech, he also gives a very interesting example of how the mother of a little girl received feedback from a teacher about potential hyperactivity disorder because the child had difficulty concentrating. When the mother invited the doctor to talk to her and asked her to sit down and do her homework, the doctor asked the mother to also leave the room and observe what would happen next.

The girl got up from the table and started dancing, so the doctor told her mother: "She is not sick, she is a dancer, send her to a dance school." After some time, the girl succeeded in her career, became a famous dancer and eventually a millionaire. And the doctor could have missed it, prescribed sedatives, and she would never have had this story.

We are all different and we need different approaches. Someone needs to move to think, and someone needs to move vice versa. The education system should be customized. Personalization allows you to adapt the learning process, depending on the abilities of each person, the desired speed of learning, and behavioral characteristics.

Meanwhile, parents are increasingly asking why this education system is needed. Why, if it is not aligned today with the needs of 21st century students, nor with the speed of change at all levels, and there is often a big mismatch between education and the unknown job of tomorrow.

So what can we do today? Is there something universal?

Look at what Google, Facebook, Reddit, and Dropbox have in common. The most popular search engine, Google, was launched in 1996 as a research project by two Stanford University students. The most popular social network Facebook was founded in 2004 by Harvard University sophomore Mark Zuckerberg and his roommates. The online news service Reddit was created in 2005 by students of the University of Virginia. Dropbox file hosting was launched in 2007 by two students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

All these successful tech companies were founded by students at universities.

And what about Ukraine? Elomia, a startup founded by students and graduates of Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, is an artificial intelligence psychologist bot that promptly helps people with depression. Or GiftHub, a 1-minute Telegram bot gift selection service from students of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Or Droony, the world's first automated audio advertising system using drones, founded by students of the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics. And this is not a complete list.

In general, youth entrepreneurship can be divided into several types, as defined by Clarence Danhof:

• Innovative entrepren eurship: So-called individualists who are able to think outside the box, implement innovative methods and processes, and create new business opportunities based on their innovative ideas.
• Imitation entrepren eurship: Most entrepreneurs in developing and developed countries who bring home proven technologies from the developed world and implement them in their country.
• Fabian entrepreneurship: Young entrepreneurs who take over from the previous generation and manage to grow the business by improving efficiency, processes, and scale of operations, etc.
• Drone entrepreneurs: Drone entrepreneurs are the first generations of entrepreneurs who manage the business handed down to them without taking risks. This means stable management of the inherited business.

By the way, one of the main problems faced by most countries today is the problem of youth unemployment.

Ukraine is no exception. According to the State Statistics Service, in 2019, 31% of Ukrainians aged 15-34 were unemployed. To solve the problem of youth unemployment, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and its partners initiated the Ukrainian Pact for Youth 2020 in 2015, which was signed by top managers of about 150 companies, including 70 that are actively implementing youth employment programs. And last year, the Pact for Youth 2025 was signed.

Youth unemployment can become a boomerang and a global crisis. Although every government and global organization develops policies and allocates funds to promote youth employment programs, these efforts are insignificant compared to the seriousness of the problem.

At the same time, in some countries, youth entrepreneurship is recognized as a promising alternative and is actively promoted by various agencies.

In particular, the IT business in the United States has become the basis for youth entrepreneurship, creating multimillionaires like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and many others. There are similar stories in other countries as well.

However, there is a need for many more celebrity entrepreneurs and opportunities for young people to try their hand at entrepreneurship. In turn, building an environment that provides opportunities for entrepreneurship requires the implementation of multifaceted strategies at all levels, including government, industry, politics, social, and education.

With this in mind, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine pays special attention to building an entrepreneurial mindset from the school desk.

In partnership with Kyivstar and EdEra, an online education studio, we have launched the course "Entrepreneurship for Schoolchildren"course, which will help teenagers embark on the path of an entrepreneur, develop entrepreneurial thinking, motivate them to implement business ideas, and provide them with all the knowledge they need.

Importantly, the course is based on the EntreComp Entrepreneurship Competency Framework, an international standard used to create entrepreneurship programs in Europe.

In more detail, the course is designed for 6 modules and 36 lessons:

• Module 1: The idea.
• Module 2. Product and marketing.
• Module 3: Team and management tools.
• Module 4. Finance and financial literacy. Sales.
• Module 5: Product presentation and partner search.
• Module 6: Legal aspects.

We plan to obtain a stamp from the Ministry of Education, which will allow us to recommend the course as an elective for economics lessons in schools.

And in the student environment, we launched the Entrepreneurial University initiative.

This initiative of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the YEP business incubator network, and other partners involves teaching the discipline of Innovative Entrepreneurship and Startup Project Management at Ukrainian universities.

Diia.Business, the Ministry of Education and Science, the TechUkraine platform, the University of North Carolina Entrepreneurship Clinic, North Carolina State University, the University of Tartu, the former director of StartupAmsterdam, the former director of the Tel Aviv University startup accelerator, and others joined the creation of the curriculum.

As a result, a discipline with the following structure was formed:

• Topic 1: Startup ecosystem.
• Topic 2. Basic principles of team formation, roles in a startup team.
• Topic 3. Design thinking. Identification of problems, empathy.
• Topic 4. Design thinking. Search and selection of ideas.
• Topic 5. Validation of the startup idea.
• Topic 6. Business model canvas. Introduction, problem and solution.
• Topic 7. Business model canvas. Portrait of the client, value proposition.
• Topic 8. Customer research. Preliminary market research. Validation of key hypotheses.
• Topic 9: Presentation of startup ideas.
• Topic 10. Team dynamics.
• Topic 11. Minimum viable product (MVP).
• Topic 12: Market assessment. Analysis of competitors.
• Topic 13. Fundamentals of marketing for startups.
• Topic 14: Fundamentals of investment, finance and legal features of startups.
• Topic 15: Presentation of a startup. Pitch deck.
• Examination. Final pitches.

But developing a discipline is only half the battle. We still need teachers who can teach in a new way. Because the discipline is new, requires interactivity, is practical, and is designed for a new generation of Ukrainian youth.

Accordingly, we held intensive trainings for teachers on introduction to innovative entrepreneurship, creating a startup, and managing a course on innovative entrepreneurship.

As a result, 154 teachers have been trained and received certificates. They also received methodological instructions for teaching the course, the course syllabus, and all the necessary materials.

Only then did they begin teaching the course, with the constant support of experts and mentors from the YEP business incubator.

The work of students on startups is counted as an official discipline at universities.

It sounds like a fantasy. But this has actually been achieved. The discipline "Innovative Entrepreneurship and Startup Project Management" is integrated into the bachelor's or master's degree program and has been launched in 76 universities in Ukraine.

And this is only the first wave of universities, a "pilot project," so to speak. Every year, the number of universities where students will make startups in pairs will grow. For example, in the spring semester of 2021, 12 more universities are planning to join the course.

More than 3,900 students have begun to study and turn their ideas into startups.

They had a field trip and met successful entrepreneurs, developed empathy maps, learned about design thinking, chose an idea for a startup and validated it, built a business model outline, researched customers and the market, calculated market size, analyzed the marketing strategies of major competitors, analyzed digital marketing cases, developed a financial plan, and eventually presented real startups.

This is an incredible, exciting experience that students have never had before at a university. As a result, according to students and professors, the course has become one of the most useful at universities. They note its interest, creativity, professionalism, innovation, practical orientation and high level.

But that's not all.

We have also introduced an element of competition and rivalry.

In December 2020, we announced a call for applications for the student startup competition. More than 120 teams participated, of which 56 teams made it to the semifinals and 10 teams became finalists.

The three winners got into the YEP! Starter incubation program to continue working on their ideas and developing their own business. Representatives of the two best teams also won a trip to the Startup Day conference in Estonia.

One of them is OK town!, an optimized marketplace in the field of services and local tourism by students of Sumy State University. The product's feature is an online audio tour developed for a mobile application linked to Google maps. Any tourist can buy an online tour, and they will be given a guided tour of the location.

The breakthrough project Entrepreneurial University proves that Ukrainian students are capable of creating startups. And we will make every effort to turn the pilot project into a full-fledged part of the relevant university programs.

We will also be sure to support entrepreneurs and, in particular, young startups within the framework of the national project for entrepreneurship development "Diia.Business".

This project includes an online component - a portal with free services and services for entrepreneurs. In particular, the Diia.Business portal offers more than 50 types of free online consultations for entrepreneurs. The portal also includesNational Online School for Entrepreneurs.Everyone can learn how to start their own business, create a financial plan, get funding to develop their business idea, promote their product, and manage their team.

There is also an offline component of the project - a network of Diia.Business entrepreneurial support centers across Ukraine. These are comfortable and progressive locations where entrepreneurs can get free expert advice on systematizing business processes, financial management, legal support, marketing, HR, and grants. This year, we plan to open 7 to 15 such support centers.

The goal of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and my personal goal is to turn Ukraine into a country of entrepreneurs. Fortunately, with this new generation of Ukrainians, it is only a matter of time.