Abstract:
Digital payment options and financial instruments have a direct impact on entrepreneurship in each country and globally. In recent years, according to the World Bank’s Financial Inclusion Index (Findex) or the Doing Business report, trends in this sector have been deeply influenced by technological advancements in the financial sector. A major difference between developed and developing regions remains the strong reliance on banks in the former group, and on mobile payment instruments in the latter. Following these two directions of digital innovations, the level of financial inclusiveness in both developed and developing regions is expected to be balanced by 2025; however, although 80% of adults in emerging economies had a mobile phone in 2014, and 55% had financial accounts, only 3% of the population uses digital payment options in these largely cash-based societies (McKinsey 2016). This presentation will explore some of the complex changes related to digital innovations for financial inclusiveness by looking at current research, focusing more specifically on online crowdfunding and the use of ICTs for entrepreneurship in emerging economies.
Short Bio:
Dr Endrit Kromidha is a lecturer in entrepreneurship and innovation and the director of the Master in Entrepreneurship programme at Royal Holloway University of London. He has published in Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Government Information Quarterly and a number of other outlets on success factors in entrepreneurship crowdfunding and e-government in developing countries. Endrit is trying to deepen his understanding in this area by conducting more research on the alternative uses of digital innovations, platforms and ICTs for entrepreneurship in emerging economies. He is a Fellow of the British Higher Education Academy, a member of the British Academy of Management, and the editor of the ICT4D Briefings of the UNESCO Chair in ICT for Development in his university.
