Beehive, a young peer to peer lending platform, and Thomson Reuters, have partnered on an innovation white paper regarding the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The document, embedded below, is designed to learn how small business approach innovation. Beehive hosted a roundtable earlier this year that involved some of the regions more successful SMEs to define how innovative startups can be encouraged.
- According to Beehive, a second phase of the research was a survey of SMEs as to ascertain needs and desires. Some of the key findings of the report include:
- There is no need to reinvent the wheel; the majority of innovation in the UAE comes from taking existing ideas and improving them or adapting them to better suit a region or market.
- Building a culture of innovation inside companies is di cult, but companies that are able to foster innovative thinking throughout every level of their business will be more successful.
- Building a strong SME community and a collaborative culture play a greater role in fostering SME innovation and success than enforcing policy and regulations. Creating an ecosystem for innovation to flourishsh is critical.
- Government encourages innovation by establishing Free-Zone business hubs, business- friendly regulations and most important of all, leadership by example.
The white paper concludes that access to capital, a collaborative community, transparency and guidance are key to growing the innovative SME sector.
The whitepaper is available here:
