Program attendees  will learn:

Can you do well by “doing good”? How do you make money in countries where the average worker makes as little as a dollar a day? Why is technology the answer for grass roots entrepreneurship on a village by village basis?

Presented in association with the MIT Media Lab and the MIT Program in Developmental Entrepreneurship, “Global Entrepreneurship: Inefficiency as Opportunity in the Developing World” will open the eyes and minds of entrepreneurs looking to capitalize on emerging global markets.

How to do good, and make money, by identifying needs and solving inefficiencies affecting poor regions

How high-tech solutions work in low-tech areas

Why “bottom-up” entrepreneurship works and “top-down” doesn't

How to use the US legal and financial systems to go global

How to overcome legal and governmental obstacles

Our featured panel includes Alex (Sandy) Pentland (moderator), professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab and co-founder and director of the MIT Program for Developmental Entrepreneurship; Damien Balsan, co-founder and vice president of business development for WAY Systems, a leader in mobile point-of-sale devices; Rick Burnes, co-founder of the venture capital firm Charles River Ventures; Iqbal Quadir, founder of the GrameenPhone cellular network in Bangladesh , and co-founder and director of the MIT Program for Developmental Entrepreneurship; and Randy Zadra, managing director of the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas.

Biographies

Sandy Pentland
Professor Alex (Sandy) Pentland PS '82 is co-founder and director of the MIT Program for Developmental Entrepreneurship and the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts & Sciences at the MIT Media Lab. Sandy is a pioneer in mobile communications, health systems, and technology for developing countries. One of the world's most-cited scientists, he has helped to create more than a dozen organizations, including several publicly-listed firms. He was previously founding director of the Center for Future Health and the Media Lab Asia, and was the Academic Head of the MIT Media Laboratory. A winner of numerous international awards in the arts, sciences and engineering, he was chosen by Newsweek as one of 100 Americans most likely to shape this century.

Damien Balsan
Damien Balsan GM '02 has over 15 years of experience in the telecommunications, mobile, bank card, and payment industry. Damien started his career in Mexico at France Telecom, in charge of developing the Minitel concept following France Telecom's investment of $500M in Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico). He has held several positions at Gemplus, the leading smart card manufacturer, including: Sales Director of Central and Eastern, General Manager for South America, and Director of Marketing for the Gemplus Mobile Business unit that focused in mobile banking and mobile commerce applications. Damien graduated from MIT's Sloan School of Management and was one of the first Developmental Entrepreneurship alumni, completing his thesis on Mobile Commerce Business Models with a particular focus on developing countries. The ideas developed in this thesis led him to become a co-founder of WAY Systems, an international leader in mobile point-of-sale devices.
 
Rick Burnes
Rick Burnes was a co-founder of Charles River Ventures in 1970 and has played a major role in the firm's development into one of the country's major venture firms with offices in Waltham , Massachusetts and Menlo Park , California. Over the last 15 years, Rick has focused on investments in the fields of communications and information services. Among the successful investments he has led are: Cascade Communications, Chipcom Corporation, Epoch Systems, Abacus Direct, Summa Four, Concord Communications, Prominet, Aptis and Sonus Networks.

Apart from venture capital, Rick has been active in community organizations. Currently he is Chairman of Boston's nationally recognized Museum of Science, Chairman of the Entrepreneur's Foundation of New England, Vice Chairman of Sea Education Association and Director of The Boston Foundation.

Iqbal Quadir
Iqbal Quadir is internationally known for developing a new vision for universal information access, which he realized as the GrameenPhone network and its famous village phone ladies. Although considered unrealistic at the time, today it is widely considered to be one of the world's most important poverty alleviation inventions. From 2001-2005, he was a fellow at Harvard's JFK School of Government, teaching how technologies can affect change in developing countries. He is now co-founder and director of the MIT Program for Developmental Entrepreneurship, and organizing projects providing electricity, fertilizers, and potable water in Bangladesh and other countries.

Randy Zadra
Randy Zadra is currently Managing Director of the Institute for Connectivity in the Americas (ICA), which was created for promoting and funding hemispheric innovation in the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Latin American and Caribbean region. He has more than 15 years of experience in ICT, and extensive international experience. Randy previously held senior management positions at Teleglobe in Montreal, Quebec and Washington, DC and has founded two Internet start-ups, focusing on providing accessible Internet in developing countries. He has also worked with the Ministry of Industry in Canada, in international trade development and policy.

Register online at: http://www.mitforumct.org/calendar.htm   

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Directions to  University of Connecticut Health Center in  Farmington:

From I-84 East/West: Go to  Exit 39 (Route 4 - Farmington). As you come down Exit 39, stay  in the right lane because you will bear right approximately  1/4 mile down onto Rt. 4 (East), Farmington Avenue. Go  straight approximately 1-1.5 miles. At 3rd traffic light, take  a right into the University of Connecticut Health Center  complex At the intersection with the red blinking light,  proceed straight through. At the fork, bear left and proceed  up the hill. Proceed through another stop sign (Guard Station)  and parking lots are available on the left and right. Enter  the Hospital Entrance. Proceed to the escalator on your left  past the Information Desk. The program will be held in the  Link Room which is just a few feet down the corridor to the  left once you've reached the bottom of the  escalator.

From Northbound Route 9: Take Exit 32  (left exit) onto I-84 West and stay in the right lane. Take  Exit 39 (first exit). Turn right at first traffic light onto  Route 4 East (Farmington Avenue). At third traffic light, turn  right to enter the Health Center campus.

To Return to Route  9: Exit the Health Center campus via Munson Road. At the end  of Munson Road, turn left onto South Road. At next stop sign,  turn right and follow signs to I-84 East, staying in the right  lane to exit onto Route 9 South.