Entrepreneurship and Investment: Increasing International Interest
- Paper number
IAC-08.E6.3.1
- Author
Dr. Paul Eckert, The Boeing Company, United States
- Year
2008
- Abstract
Beginning with Space Commerce Roundtables in 2005, an international Space Investment Summit Coalition is showing how a disparate group of companies and nonprofit organizations can unite in working toward a shared long-term goal: attracting private investment to support entrepreneurial innovation in the emerging commercial space industry. Although The Boeing Company has played a coordinating role since the beginning of this effort, the purpose of this support was always to transition to leadership on the part of the entire space community. Another goal has been to encourage existing institutions to incorporate major aspects of the roundtable and summit initiative into their established agendas. Success in the transitional effort is evident in the establishment of new committees within a major U.S. institution, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (USCC), and a leading international organization, the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). More specifically, the USCC has created an Emerging Markets Working Group within the USCC’s Space Enterprise Council (SEC) of companies, and the IAF has inaugurated a new Entrepreneurship and Investment Technical Committee. The Emerging Markets Working Group is a crosscutting addition to the four other working groups within the SEC, which address traditional sectors involving transportation systems, communications satellites, position/navigation/timing satellites, and Earth observation satellites. The new working group addresses a broad portfolio of issues, including: law, regulation, and policy; government funding advocacy; investment and innovation; national and homeland security; acquisition and trade; and international cooperation. Examples of issues being addressed by the group include: limitation of liability, government anchor tenancy through advance commercial purchase, encouragement of private investment in entrepreneurial ventures, and public-private partnerships for innovation. As for the IAF’s Entrepreneurship and Investment Technical Committee, the range of issues addressed is similar to that of the SEC working group. A major focus of the technical committee’s work is administration of a symposium within the IAF’s annual International Astronautical Congress. Sessions deal with encouragement of entrepreneurship, promotion of private investment, and support by government and large companies for both investment and entrepreneurship. The technical committee’s diverse international membership—incorporating representatives from entrepreneurial ventures, large companies, consulting firms, government agencies, academia, and nonprofit organizations—render the group capable of making a significant and ongoing contribution to global industrial innovation and economic prosperity.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.E6.3.1.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.