Anniversary Event - The Entrepreneurial State 2.0: Rethinking the State in the 21st century

06 June 2023, 6:00 pm–7:30 pm

The UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) held its fifth public talk of the IIPP 2023 Festival: The Entrepreneurial State 2.0. - Rethinking the State in the 21st century, to celebrate with us our five-year anniversary.

Event Information

Open to: All
Organiser: IIPP Communications

iippcomms@ucl.ac.uk
Location: Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre

Wilkins Building

Gower Street

London

WC1E 6BT

Watch the video here

It is time for a new deal – one that unleashes the creative potential of the public sector, unlocks new green markets for businesses, and ensures economic opportunity and security for citizens. This is the vision of the Entrepreneurial State 2.0. However, as Franklin D. Roosevelt posited, “There are many ways of going forward, but only one of standing still.”

So how do we advance this bold view of the state as a key driver of challenge-oriented innovation? What are the ways in which we can create a symbiotic partnership between the private and the public sector? How do we build the dynamic public sector capabilities that put public purpose at the centre of policy design? And what role can modern industrial strategy play in steering mission-oriented growth across the economy, instead of siloed sectors?

This event marked the 10th anniversary of the publication of Professor Mariana Mazzucato’s book The Entrepreneurial State: Debunking public vs. private sector myths and the 5th anniversary of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, which she founded 5 years ago.

The evening included:

Introduction from UCL President & Provost Dr Michael Spence
Keynote speech by Professor Mariana Mazzucato on the vision underpinning the Entrepreneurial State and how IIPP is delivering the theory and practice to put it into action.
A video starring global leaders offering their view on what the Entrepreneurial State means to them, including musician, record producer, visual artist and activist Brian Eno; Secretary of Science, Technology, Innovation and the Health Industrial Complex in the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Carlos Gadelha, Leader of Camden Council Georgia Gould; Mayor of Bogotá Claudia López; Minister of Housing and British Columbia Government House Leader Ravi Kahlon; UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif; Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Motley; Vice-President of the Government of Spain and Minister for the Ecological Transition Teresa Ribeira; Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
A panel discussion moderated by Professor Mariana Mazzucato, in conversation with leaders who applied the idea of the Entrepreneurial State and Public Purpose in their work.

The panel includes:

Alicia Bárcena, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean,
Shiva Dustdar, Director and Head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Institute
Nicola Sturgeon, former First Minister of Scotland,
Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS, President of the Resolution Foundation.

This event is part of the IIPP 2023 Festival: The Entrepreneurial State 2.0. - Rethinking the State in the 21st Century. #TheEntrepreneurialState2.0

Watch the video 'The Entrepreneurial State in Action: An Anniversary Celebration'

YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://youtu.be/-q7D48hSroU

About the Speakers

Alicia Bárcena

Former Executive Secretary at United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Ms. Bárcena assumed office as the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on 1 July 2008.

She had previously served as the Under-Secretary-General for Management at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Chef de Cabinet and Deputy Chef de Cabinet to the former Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.

Alicia Bárcena held the post of Deputy Executive Secretary and Director of ECLAC’s Environment and Human Settlements Division.

Prior to her time at ECLAC, Ms. Bárcena served as Co-ordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Sustainable Development Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), responsible for the Environmental Citizenship Project at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Alicia Bárcena was the Founding Director of the Earth Council in Costa Rica, a non-governmental organization in charge of follow-up to the agreements reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992.

Ms. Bárcena has taught and conducted research in the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico. She has published numerous articles on sustainable development, public policy, environmental issues, and public participation.

Alicia Bárcena holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, and holds a Master degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. She has completed the courses for a degree of Master in Ecology, and has initiated studies for a PhD degree in Economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Alicia Bárcena has been an OGP Ambassador since October 2017. More about Alicia Bárcena

Shiva Dustdar

Director, Head of the EIB Institute at The European Investment Bank

Shiva Dustdar currently serves as the Head and Director of the EIB Institute, which brings the values and mission of the EIB Group close to society through non-commercial activities supporting its climate, innovation and development priorities. Shiva has 30 years of experience in the financial industry working for large private and public institutions in New York, London and Luxembourg. Since joining EIB in 2003, she has worked in risk management, lending, investing and advising in innovative companies. Until June 2022, Shiva headed the Innovation Finance Advisory (IFA) Division in the EIB, which she built and scaled up into a successful innovation financing advisory programme covering green, digital, gender-smart and health-related sectors. 

Shiva started her career in 1993 at J.P. Morgan in Investment Banking in New York working in M&A, Project Finance and Emerging Markets before joining Fitch Rating Agency in 1999 to set up its European High Yield rating business. She holds a BA (Magna cum Laude) in Economics from Columbia University in New York and an Executive MBA from London Business School (LBS). Shiva is an innovation finance expert and regular speaker on innovation and impact financing, gender smart investing, digital and green financing and actively engaged in networks that promote sustainable and mission-oriented financing. More about Shiva Dustdar

Prof Mariana Mazzucato

Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value, Director, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

Mariana Mazzucato (PhD) is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP). She received her BA from Tufts University and her MA and PhD from the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research. Her previous posts include the RM Phillips Professorial Chair at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University. She is a selected fellow of the UK’s Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and of the Italian National Science Academy (Lincei).

She is winner of international prizes including the Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in 2021, Italy’s highest civilian honour, the 2020 John von Neumann Award, the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values, and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. She was named as one of the ‘3 most important thinkers about innovation‘ by The New Republic, one of the 50 most creative people in business in 2020 by Fast Company, and one of the 25 leaders shaping the future of capitalism by WIRED. Most recently, Pope Francis appointed her to the Pontifical Academy for Life for bringing “more humanity” to the world.

She is the author of four highly acclaimed books: The Entrepreneurial State: debunking public vs. private sector myths (2013) which investigates the critical role the state plays in driving growth; The Value of Everything: making and taking in the global economy (2018) which looks at how value creation needs to be rewarded over value extraction; Mission Economy: a moonshot guide to changing capitalism (2021) rethinks the capacity and role of government within the economy and society; and most recently The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies (2023).

She advises policymakers around the world on innovation-led inclusive and sustainable growth. Her current roles include being Chair of the World Health Organization’s Council on the Economics of Health for All, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, Co-Chair on the Council on Urban Initiatives, member of the South African President’s Economic Advisory Council, the UN High Level Advisory Board for Economic and Social Affairs, the European Space Agency’s High-Level Advisory Group on Human and Robotic Space Exploration for Europe, Argentina’s Economic and Social Council and Vinnova’s Advisory Panel in Sweden and the OECD High-Level Advisory Panel on Climate and Economic Resilience. Previously, through her role as Special Advisor for the EC Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (2017-2019), she authored the high-impact report on Mission-Oriented Research and Innovation in the European Union, turning 'missions' into a crucial new instrument in the European Commission’s Horizon innovation programme, and more recently, authored a report with the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on Transformational Change in Latin America and the Caribbean: A mission-oriented approach. More about Prof Mariana Mazzucato

Nicola Sturgeon

Former First Minister of Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon is the MSP for Glasgow Southside constituency, and the former First Minister of Scotland – the longest-serving and first woman First Minister.

Nicola was born in Irvine in 1970. She joined the SNP at the age of 16 and has been campaigning for Scottish independence ever since. Before she became an MSP, Nicola worked as a solicitor at Drumchapel Law Centre, helping people with legal problems.

Nicola was elected as an MSP representing the city of Glasgow in 1999 and was re-elected as a Glasgow MSP in 2003. In 2007 Nicola won the Glasgow Govan constituency from Labour. Following a review of Scottish Parliament constituency boundaries in 2010, the Govan constituency was abolished. Nicola stood as the SNP candidate for Glasgow Southside, which took in most of her former Govan constituency. She was elected with 54 per cent of the vote.

She was elected as First Minister on 19 November 2014, and resigned in March 2023.

Nicola lives in Glasgow with her husband Peter. More about Nicola Sturgeon

Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS

President at The Resolution Foundation

The Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS is the President of the Resolution Foundation. He served as the Member of Parliament for Havant (1992-2015), as Minister for Universities and Science (2010-2014) and previously worked at HM Treasury and the No. 10 Policy Unit.

He is Chair of the UK Space Agency, a Board member of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and a visiting Professor at King’s College London. He is the Chair of Innovate Cambridge and an Honorary Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford.

Lord Willetts has written widely on economic and social policy. His book “A University Education” is published by Oxford University Press. A second edition of his book “The Pinch” on fairness between the generations was published in 2019. More about Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS