Enhanced Entrepreneurship Skills for Scientists in the ‘New Normal’ Environment

July 25, 2020

“Enhanced Entrepreneurship Skills for Scientists in the ‘New Normal’ Environment” 25th July 2020, 4.30pm to 7.30pm

Organized by the Sri Lanka National Chapter of Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (SLNC-OWSD) under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences Sri Lanka (NASSL)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udk1dDAKyu8

The Sri Lanka National Chapter of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (SLNC-OWSD) held a Webinar on “Enhanced Entrepreneurship Skills for Scientists in the ‘New Normal’ Environment’ on 25 July 2020, from 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm with the participation of about 200 scientists from 30 countries across the world, in addition to others who watched the live stream of the event via Facebook.This webinar included participation of two world-renowned scientists cum entrepreneurs;. Dr Shahani Markus (Chief Technical Officer and Chairperson of Emojet Pvt. Ltd, Co-founder, President and Board Member of Auxenta Pvt. Ltd and Million Spaces Pvt.Ltd.) as the Chief Guest and Vidya Jyothi Dr.Bandula Wijay (The Ambassador for Science Technology and Innovation for Sri Lanka, Honorary Visiting Professor, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University Sri Lanka and CEO of ProSum Inc. Houston, Texas) as the Keynote Speaker.Dr. Markus delivered a motivational speech titled ‘I CAN!’ instead of ‘CAN I?’. Her talk highlighted the importance of developing the courage and a mind set to step out of the stereotyped framework to achieve the desired goals. Vidya Jyothi Dr.Bandula Wijay’s speech was titled ‘Post pandemic economic vitality through innovation’ where he stressed the need to inculcate an innovative mind set from childhood, which may be introduced through the school education system. Each of these  presentations was followed by a question and answer session that provided an opportunity for the world-wide audience to interact with the two distinguished scientists.The first panel discussion on the theme “To start, rise and stay at the top as an entrepreneur: challenges in the ‘new normal’ environment’ involved the participation of eminent speakers who were have proven records in the theme under discussion.  Ms. Chathuri Ranasinghe (Chairperson, Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce) delivered a short presentation on Challenges for start-ups in the ‘new normal’ environment based on her experience of leading the Chambers. Mr. Heminda Jayaweera (COO, SLINTEC) elaborated on how he floated a new idea so that others could use their know-how to cater to social needs, especially during challenging times. Mr. Shalen De Silva (Founder and CEO Vincere Health, USA) described how a research idea may be transformed into a business venture through the use of modern day technology while fulfilling social needs of the day and used his work directed at helping people to quit smoking, with apparently simple mobile phone application that his team developed, as an example.The second session consisted of a panel of 3 speakers: Mr. Janaka Karunasena, Head, Technology Division, National Science Foundation (NSF) , Ms.Manisha Rajapakse, Chief Executive Officer, National Research Council (NRC) and Mr Deepal De Silva, Deputy General Manager-Branch Banking, representing the Sampath Bank (sponsor of the event). The discussion that ensued was centred around financial opportunities that could be accessed by scientists to convert research ideas generated within laboratories in to business ventures out there in the society, highlighting also the gaps in policies or challenges to such processes as they exist now. Helpful insights on transforming science into business were widely discussed, with special emphasis on challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Manisha highlighted the private-public partnerships that are supported by the NRC, which promote the essential links between research and development needs of the private sector with research scientists, who have the expertise in providing research-based solutions.  Janaka highlighted the technology development grants awarded through the NSF, which support projects that lead to technology-driven innovations (TDI). The financial schemes promoted by the Sampath Bank that support start-ups were discussed by Deepal that can ensure the financial capital required to take the research ideas forward.Each panel discussion was followed by a question and answer session, which made the event very interactive and satisfying experience for all parties involved.The symposium was chaired by Prof. Nadira Karunaweera (President, SLNC-OWSD), Prof. Priyan Dias (President, NASSL) and Dr. Ranjith Mahindapala (Immediate Past President, NASSL).YouTube link for the symposium video can be accessed through: