SBA's Guide Aims to Help Businesses Plan and Recover From Disasters

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Small and medium-sized businesses are focused on solving a problem for their customer by providing a service or product of the highest quality. While most businesses are focused on growing their sales, too many are not prepared for how an immediate disaster like a hurricane, earthquake, unseasonably cold weather or a pandemic can adversely impact their operations. A new document shows how these risks could disrupt business operations and planning for them will enable owners to rebound quicker and avoid a recurrence.

In announcing the launch of its Business Resilience Guide, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) says its publication serves as "a comprehensive resource for small business owners who may not be familiar with disaster preparation." The government agency whose mission is to help power the American dream of business ownership, adds that its "guide, which has six sections to plan and recover from disasters, includes best practices and template forms to help mitigate disasters for America's entrepreneurs and help them build back stronger."

The SBA's Guide correctly points out that "[w]hen disaster strikes, even the best run businesses can be impacted. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, about 25 percent of businesses do not reopen after disasters. Some businesses can cope with adversity better than others – they are less disrupted by an event, resume operations sooner, recover faster, and adjust for the future based on their experience. These businesses are described as resilient."

What is more, "For a small business, being resilient involves understanding risks, planning for them, identifying employee needs and responsibilities, and ensuring back-ups and redundancies are in place. This Guide can help small businesses determine how to anticipate the impacts of a disaster on operations so disruptions can be minimized."

SBA's publication leads business owners through creating a robust resilience plan, covering crucial areas such as:

• Understanding their current landscape: This involves documenting essential operations and identifying dependencies.
• Identifying key partnerships: It is crucial for seamless business continuity to recognize and nurture relationships with important vendors, suppliers, and collaborators.
• Safeguarding vital resources: The guide emphasizes the importance of data backup, cybersecurity measures, and infrastructure protection.
• Strengthening financial readiness: Strategies for managing cash flow, securing emergency funding, and minimizing financial losses.
• Embracing proactive mitigation: This section delves into strategies for minimizing the impact of potential disruptions through risk assessment and mitigation tactics.

The last section on embracing proactive mitigation also includes an overview of the SBA's post-disaster lending programs that can help business owners mitigate the effects should their business be impacted by a disaster. "SBA loans can assist with expenses related to the repair or replacement of property and can provide support for essential business operations in the aftermath of a declared disaster. These low-interest subsidized 30-year loans have 0 percent interest for the first year as well as deferred payments for the first year after the loans are disbursed."

The Guide also mentions how the SBA "offers a mitigation option as part of the post-disaster loan program that enables a property owner to increase their physical disaster loan by up to 20 percent of the verified loss (or a maximum of $500,000) to pay for interventions that will make a property more resilient in the future. Mitigation reduces a property's risk of damage from future events so people can return to their home or business more quickly after a disaster. The section on embracing proactive mitigation also includes multiple examples of hazard mitigation efforts at different price-points."

Do you find SBA's Guide useful to help your business plan and recover from disasters? What would you add?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Policy Recommendations for Promoting International Investment by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

A report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the trade and development body of the United Nations, correctly notes that "Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are important contributors to economic development, representing a substantial portion of businesses globally. Global markets offer SMEs opportunities for growth, diversification and resilience. Access to international markets enables them to tap into new customer bases, gain exposure to diverse business practices and foster innovation through cross-cultural collaboration."

Having supported initiatives aimed to promote international investment by SME's, I support the report's assertion that "SMEs encounter significant challenges that hinder their investment overseas. SME investors, relative to large Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), face distinctive bottlenecks including financial and information constraints, difficulties in dealing with regulatory complexities and, importantly, an international investment environment in which facilitation and investment promotion institutions are often geared towards attracting large-scale investment projects." The report points out "Foreign direct investment (FDI) by SMEs has been in decline in recent years: the number of outward greenfield investment projects in 2022 was only about a quarter of that in 2015."

With financial support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, UNCTAD's report says that "Based on original empirical studies in different developing regions and selected developed economies, this report discusses how to reduce the common investment policy bias in home and host countries towards large MNEs, the role of SMEs in South–South and intraregional FDI, and ways and means to maximize the development impact of SME FDI." What is more, "It introduces a new framework to assess the relevance and effectiveness of existing investment policies for the promotion of SME investment and presents policy options to facilitate overseas investment by SMEs and reduce the existing policy bias." These policy options include:

• Adjusting investment promotion and facilitation services towards addressing the needs and challenges that SMEs face, so that size does not hinder their access to financial incentives and facilitation mechanisms.
• Establishing comprehensive support networks and designing accessible matchmaking program and events to help small businesses connect and to foster sustained and successful partnerships.
• Improving SMEs' competitiveness by supporting their innovation capacity, including through digitalization, technology adoption and capacity-building.
• Facilitating SMEs' access to capital, including by improving digital services and infrastructure development.
• Simplifying the regulatory and administrative framework and improving access to information by using digital platforms.
• Promoting SMEs' participation in trade to increase their international exposure and knowledge of foreign markets.

I agree with the UNCTAD that "By implementing a combination of these policies, governments can create an environment that supports SMEs in their efforts to invest and thrive in international markets and to harness the related development benefits."

What are your recommendation for promoting international investment by small and medium-sized enterprises?

​Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

SBA's Surety Bond Program

Investopedia defines surety as "a promise or agreement made by one party that debts and financial obligations will be paid. In effect, a surety acts as a guarantee that a person or an organization assumes responsibility for fulfilling financial obligations in the event that the debtor defaults and is unable to make payments." Moreover, "The party that guarantees the debt is referred to as the surety or the guarantor. Sureties can be made by issuing surety bonds, which are legal contracts obligating one party to pay if the other fails to live up to the agreement."

Benefits of having a surety bond include:

• Protection against financial loss since a surety bond can protect your business from financial losses in the event that someone sues you or if you break a contract;
• Shows that you are a responsible business;
• Getting help in obtaining financing as banks and other lending institutions may be more likely to lend money to businesses that have a surety bond;
• Helps you comply with regulations as certain regulations may require businesses to have a surety bond in order to operate; and
• Helps you get government contracts as many government organizations require businesses to have a surety bond before they will award them a contract.

In conversation with a friend who owns a small business that is trying to win contracts, I introduced him to a program within the U.S. Small Business Administration Bond Guaranty Program that issues surety bonds which provides the customer with a guarantee that the work will be completed.

According to the SBA, "Many public and private contracts require surety bonds, which are offered by surety companies. The SBA guarantees surety bonds for certain surety companies, which allows the companies to offer surety bonds to small businesses that might not meet the criteria for other sureties."

The SBA Surety Bond Program is segmented into four steps:

1. Surety bonds are requested: Some contracts require that the business doing the work be properly bonded.
2. Surety partners with business: Authorized surety companies provide surety bonds to businesses that meet their qualifications.
3. SBA guarantees: SBA guarantees surety bonds for private surety companies, so more small businesses can qualify.
4. Small businesses benefit: Small businesses get SBA-guaranteed surety bonds so they can get to work.

The U.S. government agency importantly explains that it "guarantees contract bonds, but doesn’t guarantee commercial bonds. Contract bonds ensure the terms of a specific contract are fulfilled. Commercial bonds ensure all applicable laws and regulations are followed. Government agencies require certain companies or individuals to obtain commercial bonds, which protect the general public against things like fraud."

What is more, "Some contracts require surety bonds that cover specific situations. SBA guarantees surety bonds that cover several major categories of work":

• Bid: Ensures full payment and performance bonding from the contract bidder.
• Payment: Ensures full payment to the suppliers and subcontractors.
• Performance: Ensures full completion of a contract by small business.
• Ancillary: Ensures completion of requirements outside of performance or payment, such as maintenance.

With respect to the bond guarantee fee, the SBA notes that "all performance and payment bond guarantees require small businesses to pay SBA a fee of 0.6% of the contract price. If for some reason the bond is cancelled or not issued, SBA will return the guarantee fee. SBA does not charge a fee for bid bond guarantees."

Eligibility criteria in obtaining a surety bond include qualifying as a small business according to the SBA's size standards, have up to $6.5 million for non-federal contracts and up to $10 million for federal contracts, and meet the surety company’s credit, capacity, and character requirements.

What has been your experience with surety bonds?

​Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

GSMA Report Highlights the Challenges and Opportunities for Scaling E-Commerce Adoption by Small Businesses in Africa

There is significant evidence that e-commerce can help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) reach wider markets and increase their profitability and resilience, according to the GSMA. However, in Africa, online retail as a proportion of total retail sales remains much lower than in other regions, indicating that the continent's MSMEs are not fully leveraging the e-commerce opportunity for growth. The UK-based organization, which represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, published a report highlighting the challenges and opportunities for scaling e-commerce adoption by MSMEs in Africa.

The insights presented in this study are primarily based on surveys conducted with 1,500 MSMEs currently using e-commerce in over six African markets, comprising Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. In addition, the GSMA conducted an extensive literature review and interviews with over 40 experts in these six markets, as well as in three additional markets that form part of this analysis: Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania.

The report's key findings include:

• E-commerce offers micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) the opportunity to operate more efficiently and increase sales and profitability. "This is critically important in African markets where MSMEs play a central role in generating economic value and creating livelihoods. E-commerce can support MSMEs to scale by facilitating access to wider markets, lowering barriers to entry for micro and small firms, and enabling women to combine economic activity with other responsibilities more flexibly and efficiently."
• There are three prevalent e-commerce channels: social commerce, the selling of goods via social media services such as Facebook, Instagram, X (previously known as Twitter) and WhatsApp; e-commerce marketplaces, which aggregate large numbers of sellers on a single platform; and own brand websites. "Each channel offers its own unique set of advantages and limitations. While social commerce is most accessible to MSMEs of all sizes due to low barriers to entry for even informal and micro businesses, exclusive use of social commerce, especially informally, limits the professionalization of the business. Much of the sales process in informal social commerce may remain manual, from arranging payments to delivery offline. E-commerce marketplaces digitize the entire sales process for MSMEs, from receiving orders to processing deliveries, but this comes at the cost of commission charges as well as decreased visibility with competing sellers. Meanwhile, company websites create unique brand identities and trust with customers but require more capital and digital know-how."
• While improving connectivity and the steady uptake of mobile phones is spurring e-commerce adoption by MSMEs, much of the e-commerce opportunity remains unexploited. "E-commerce adoption is growing, and market forecasts suggest that there will be almost 600 million online shoppers in the region by 2027. However, the number of e-commerce users in the region in 2022 was estimated at under 400 million out of a total population of over 1.4 billion people, a relatively small proportion. In addition, only five to seven percent of retail payments were digital in 2020. There is therefore a vast opportunity for MSMEs to reach consumers via the trade of goods online."

The GSMA says there are several barriers to scaling e-commerce for MSMEs in Africa. These include:

• Limited financial resources and digital skills: "MSMEs lack access to capital and credit, restricting their growth, and do not have sufficient business and digital skills to fully leverage the opportunities e-commerce offers."
• Regulatory gaps: "Where e-commerce related policies and regulations are absent, dated, or fragmented, they are leading to low business and consumer confidence in online trade. These policies include cybersecurity laws, personal privacy and data protection laws, consumer protection laws, e-transactions laws, and intellectual property laws."
• Implementation of legislation: "Weak implementation of e-commerce related laws is contributing to low consumer trust and therefore limited consumer uptake of e-commerce."
• Low uptake of digital payments: "Cash on delivery remains the preferred payment method in many markets, impacting MSMEs' cash flows, making them vulnerable to losses and saddled with high delivery costs for items returned on delivery."
• Challenging logistics and delivery: Poor road infrastructure, lack of national addressing systems, and fragmented delivery solutions make the delivery of e-commerce goods both expensive and unreliable, reducing the revenue MSMEs can generate from online sales."
• Low consumer confidence and readiness: There are limitations to consumer readiness for uptake, such as limited penetration of smartphones, low digital literacy and digital skills that deter consumers from online purchases and transactions, and low confidence in the quality of goods that might be received via e-commerce due to lack of consistency in product quality.

The report importantly notes that "According to UNCTAD, digital commerce, if leveraged effectively, could add $180 billion to Africa's GDP by 2025. Improving connectivity and the steady uptake of mobile phones is spurring e-commerce adoption by MSMEs in the region." What is more, "The uptake of digital payments is steadily increasing, supporting the growth of e-commerce, although delivery challenges persist due to poor infrastructure and insufficient delivery providers."

The report also explains that "On the demand side, a growing youth population that is more digitally savvy, and a growing middle class in some markets means Africa’s MSMEs have a ready market for online retail. But e-commerce remains limited in urban areas and is yet to penetrate rural areas except for pockets of innovation in agri e-commerce and better last mile penetration in some markets such as Nigeria."

Moreover, "A significant opportunity for MSMEs to reach consumers via the trade of goods online to improve their profitability, create livelihoods and contribute more effectively to economic development therefore remains largely untapped. With the advancement of AfCFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area), there is an even greater opportunity to leverage e-commerce for regional gains."

I appreciate how GSMA's report highlights "some of the main barriers to scaling e-commerce adoption, including MSMEs' limited access to capital and digital skills, gaps in legislation or implementation of e-commerce related policies and regulations, a persisting preference for cash payments in the region and lower trust in digital payments, and poor logistics and delivery infrastructure for the reliable and affordable delivery of online purchases. These in turn impact consumer trust in e-commerce, suppressing demand for online retail."

Do you agree with the report's findings? What are your recommendations for how African MSMEs reach wider markets and increase their profitability and resilience?

​Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

A Guide to Help American Exporters Navigate Trade Finance

For many exporters in the United States, understanding the intricacies of trade finance is often a challenging undertaking. Encouragingly, the International Trade Administration (ITA), a U.S government agency whose mission is to create prosperity by strengthening the international competitiveness of U.S. industry, promoting trade and investment, and ensuring fair trade and compliance with trade laws and agreements, created The Trade Finance Guide: A Quick Reference for U.S. Exporters.

The guide defines trade finance as "a set of techniques or financial instruments used to mitigate the risks inherent in international trade to ensure payment to exporters while assuring the delivery of goods and services to importers. In other words, trade finance is a means to turn cross-border trade opportunities into real transactions by effectively managing the competing risks as well as the inherent risks facing both exporters and importers." The guide importantly adds: "The WTO estimates that trade finance plays a key role in facilitating and supporting as much as 80 to 90 percent of international trade. However, the availability of trade finance and the risk of non-payment are among the most often cited obstacles by U.S. SMEs considering selling in global markets."

The ITA says its Trade Finance Guide "explains the basics of trade finance so that U.S. companies, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can evaluate appropriate financing options to help ensure they get paid for their export sales." What is more, exporters "will also find information on how digitalization is helping to transform trade finance, with the prospect of increasing access, streamlining processes, and reducing costs."

The guide is designed to help exporters answer the following questions:

1. Is your business looking to make that first export sale or expand into more markets, but needs clarity on financing options and methods?
2. Did you know that having open account terms may help win customers in competitive markets?
3. Is insisting on cash-in-advance always a good idea?
4. What are the advantages of exporting on consignment?
5. What should you know about export working capital financing or export credit insurance?

Segmented in 17 chapters including "Access to Capital for Startups in Global Markets, "Methods of Payment in International Trade," "Export Working Capital Financing and Government Guarantees," and "Export Credit Insurance," the guide provides introductions to each of the three U.S. government finance agencies (Export-Import Bank of the United States' Office of Small Business; U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of International Trade; and U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service's Credit Programs Division) in their respective chapters and have updated other chapters, as appropriate, in collaboration with experts from relevant fields. The ITA will be continuously updating the online Trade Finance Guide on an as-needed basis, with a revised PDF version available for download on an annual basis.

While myriad of opportunities exist for U.S. exporters, they also face major types of risks including:

• Country risk is the risk of exposure to financial loss caused by political, economic, and social conditions and events in a foreign country.
• Commercial risk is the risk of non- and delayed payment caused by the importer’s insolvency or cash-flow problems.
• Foreign exchange risk is the risk of exposure to financial loss due to the fluctuation of an exchange rate change when trading with countries that have a different currency.
• Cultural influences are an additional risk factor that can negatively affect all aspects of international business.

And as an advisor to many American exporters, I appreciate the following tips for exporters:

• Be mindful of emerging trends that could reduce the complexity, cost, and processing time of trade finance transactions.
• Inquire with your current trade finance provider about available or planned digital options that could enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
• Explore trade finance options, including consulting new fintech-based trade finance providers about both traditional instruments and innovative offerings.
• Be cautious of potential fraud and cyber security risks that may accompany new technologies and online trade finance platforms.

In presenting the benefits of exporting, the guide notes:

The United States is the world's second largest exporter, with $2.5 trillion in goods and services exports in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. However, less than one percent of America's 32 million companies export; and of those do, about 60 percent sell to just one or two markets—Canada and Mexico, for example. And SMEs, which account for 98 percent of the nearly 280,000 American exporters, are even less likely to export to more than one market. With 95 percent of the world's consumers living outside of the United States, beginning to export-- or expanding to additional export markets—can help SMEs expand their sales, diversify their portfolios, and insulate them against periods of slower growth in the domestic economy.

What tips do you have on financing new export sales?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Report Presents Policy Recommendations to Better Support Women-Owned Businesses in the US

"As of 2017, there are 11,684,549 women-owned businesses in the United States accounting for 37.6% of all businesses," according to a report published by the National Women's Business Council (NWBC). "Revenue for all women-owned businesses in 2017 was $1,776.4 billion. The U.S. Census Bureau (Census Bureau) defines majority women-owned businesses as having more than 50% of the stock or equity in the business."

The NWBC, a non-partisan federal advisory committee created to serve as an independent source of advice and policy recommendations to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on economic issues of importance to women business owners, says approximately 38% of all businesses in the U.S. are women-owned and 80% of women business owners are over the age of 35. While there are over nine million women-owned businesses in urban areas accounting for 77% of all women-owned businesses and 38% of all urban businesses, there are 1.6 million women-owned businesses in rural areas accounting for 13% of all businesses and 35% of all rural businesses.

The report also presents policy recommendations on a different segments starting with improving access to capital and opportunity such as spotlighting successful venture funds investing in diverse women-founded enterprises, building back a better pipeline of women entrepreneurs, reassessing and strengthening SBA’s microloan program to better serve women entrepreneurs in emerging markets, and narrowing the wealth gap for women entrepreneurs by ensuring parity for the SBA’s women-owned small business (WOSB) and economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses (EDWOSB) federal contracting programs.

With respect to rural women's entrepreneurship, the NWBC provides policy recommendations to improve promoting succession planning among rural women entrepreneurs, providing relief for women inheriting rural family businesses and farms, evaluating gaps in data for rural women business owners and farm operators, addressing family and child care concerns as barriers to women entrepreneurship, and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion to support rural minority women business owners.

On the topic of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the report outlines policy recommendations for advancing gender equity in STEM business and innovation and promoting commercialization of new technologies, increasing STEM business mentorship and education opportunities, supporting STEM accelerator programs partnering with minority serving institutions (MSIs) and historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs), and improving demographic data collection on minority women inventor patentees.

Having served as an advisor to women-owned enterprises, I have witnessed the exorbitant long time it takes for the SBA to review applications to receive a WOSB/EDWOSB certification. Therefore, I support the recommendation that the "SBA should improve the turnaround time for obtaining a WOSB/EDWOSB certification, and both Congress and SBA should work to ensure parity of the program by leveraging the same or greater contracting expectations, authority and penalties as other certification and contracting programs."

Moreover, the NWBC recommends that SBA's Ascent platform highlight and include relevant, existing federal resources uniquely tailored for women STEM entrepreneurs including links to existing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program online tutorials, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) video trainings, and other relevant federal resources customized for women innovators. (More information about SBA's Ascent program may be found in a post entitled "SBA Launches Its 'Ascent for Women' Online Platform Geared to Help Women Entrepreneurs Grow and Expand Their Businesses.")

Do you agree with NWBC's policy recommendations to better support women-owned businesses in the United States?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Consider Licensing Your Technology to Generate Revenue for Your Business

In the five days prior to publishing this post, I unexpectedly received four requests from startup founders and small business owners as to whether they should license their technology to generate revenue. One such inquiry came from a woman in California who read my blog post about a presentation delivered by Adam Philipp, an attorney who specializes in intellectual property (IP) law firm, on defining IP and how you should protect it. Having co-founded a startup in 2016, the woman was inquiring as to whether she should continue in her attempts to commercialize her technology to enterprise customers, which was not producing the sales as she had projected, or license her technology to licensees. I was quite pleased to receive her question because I think too many business owners miss the opportunity to generate revenue and increase their business' value through the licensing of their technology. Whether it is in my capacity as an founder or business advisor, I have long advocated that if done correctly, technology licensing can bring significant benefits to a business.

Advantages of implementing a licensing model include:

1. The licensor (inventor-owner) does not have to finance the commercialization process.
2. The innovation may have a greater chance to implementing a go-to-market strategy faster because a larger, more experienced company is handling the commercialization.
3. The innovation may reach more markets if the licensee is a large, well-funded enterprise.
4. The licensor will not have to build and manage a commercialization team.
5. The licensor will not have execution risk (although if the licensing agreement is based on sharing revenue from the commercialization of the technology by the licensee, execution risk exists for the licensor).
6. The licensor should be protected from product liability issues if the licensing agreement is properly written.
7. The licensor retains ownership of the intellectual property.

Below is some criteria to consider when selecting a licensee and drafting a licensing agreement:

1. Will you offer an exclusive license or a non-exclusive license?
2. Are you or your licensee responsible for defending your patent? With the high cost of litigation, it is advised that you shift this responsibility to your licensee should your patent be challenged or infringed.
3. How will royalty payments be determined?
4. What conditions constitute grounds for early termination of the licensing agreement?
5. Will you allow for renegotiating the agreement after a period of time has passed?
6. Does the agreement guarantee a minimum or maximum royalty per contract period? Does the agreement have provisions for assessing penalties for late royalty payments?
7. What happens if the licensee goes bankrupt or is acquired? Better get that into the contract as well.

"The Pros And Cons Of Licensing Technology" by Toni Hickey, William Barrow and Charles Harris, all three of whom are attorneys, is a resource that I find useful. This paper presents viewpoints from a corporate IP owner as well as a potential licensee, the difficulty of pricing technology for licensing, and tips for companies looking to license in or license out technology such as (1) opportunity cost, (2) due diligence, (3) comprehensive valuation, (4) licensing terms, (5) monitoring of licensees, (6) litigation preparedness, and (7) enforcement terms.

In explaining how licensing can add value to a business, this website says "[l]icensing technology provides a low-risk way to capitalize on your intellectual property assets. Due to the high cost of manufacture and the comparatively small investment of a licensing program, many of the risks that a company would otherwise face in exploiting its intellectual property are transferred to the licensee. Depending upon the exclusivity of the license, there are varying degrees of risk involved for the licensee and licensor; however, an effective license strategy will minimize risk for both parties.

"Before a company considers licensing out its technology, however, it should consider whether other ways of taking advantage of its property, such as joint ventures and strategic alliances with other companies, would better compliment its economic position. Once licensing is decided upon, the nature of the company as well as the particular property it wishes to utilize should be carefully considered before deciding the architecture of the license."

Tom Kulik, a Texas-based IP attorney, authored an article for Above the Law entitled "5 Things To Think About Before Licensing Your Intellectual Property." Similar to the aforementioned paper, Mr. Kulik also recommends performing due diligence. As he explains, "This may seem like an odd point, but it is essential — you need to know your intellectual property assets as much as the potential licensee with which you are dealing. I know, I know — you are probably reading this and saying 'duh,' but you would be stunned to realize how many times a company has made assumptions regarding its intellectual property assets that are, quite simply, incorrect." He further recommends taking "the time to not only understand what is being licensed, but whether and how it can be licensed in the first place."

On the topic of exclusivity, Mr. Kulik writes:

Exclusivity in licensing should only be done after careful consideration has been paid to the potential licensee, the market and the licensor’s other intellectuals property obligations. This may come as a surprise to you, but I have personally dealt with situations where a lack of such care resulted in multiple exclusive licenses needing to be "unwound" by amendments so that the appropriate intellectual property rights were in place. Assuming any grant-back rights, as a general rule exclusivity basically hands a licensee a set of intellectual property rights that cannot be exercised by the licensor for the duration of the license. Tying the hands of the licensor under an exclusive license should be met with appropriate royalties, minimum guarantees and, in some cases, even upfront fees or advances depending upon the nature of the underlying deal. Further, additional responsibilities are placed upon the parties in exclusive licenses (i.e., joinder of the licensor in intellectual property infringement litigation). Sometimes a non-exclusive construct with specific restrictions may work equally well for the parties. In any event, when it comes to exclusivity in intellectual property licenses, always proceed with caution.

For those who are considering patenting their technology, I am often asked: "But isn't it expensive to file a patent application?" It can be a lot less costly that you may think. Mr. Phillp published a post of his firm's blog that says while "[f]iling a US patent application can cost less than $1,000 for a do-it-yourself version, or more than $16,000 for a complex application (such as for software or a complex machine) drafted by a patent lawyer, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) makes things a little easier for small businesses by providing discounts to those who qualify for small or micro entity status. For example, the basic filing fee for a utility patent application is $320. It’s $160 for a small entity and $80 for a micro entity."

When I was serving as co-founder and chief executive of ROI3, Inc., our primary product was an mobile application to allow Chinese speakers to learn specialized English terminology. One app was focused on English medical terminology (see screenshot on the left) and another app that presented English terms used in aviation settings. Rather than making our apps available for consumers to download on one of the many app stores available in China, ROI3's business model focused on licensing our technology to enterprise customers. We licensed our medical app to Chinese medical schools and research institutions and our aviation app to flight training centers in China. Items my colleagues and I had to consider included exclusivity or non-exclusivity, when license fees were to be paid, auditing mechanisms to insure that the licensee was accurately reporting revenues resulting from the use of our technology, and insuring that our technology was not be used by the licensee in ways not defined in the license agreement.

However, it is no secret that licensing foreign technology in China carries significant risks with preventing IP theft as the most significant one. And while most people think about members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army hacking into the computer systems of American firms, I advise most companies doing business in China that having their Chinese partner or licensee use their technology in ways not mutually agreed upon or explicitly prohibited in a license agreement should be their primary concern. For those readers thinking of licensing their technology in China, the following posts authored by Dan Harris, via the China Law Blog, may be a useful resource:

• "China Licensing Agreements: The Key Provisions," Oct. 16, 2010
• "China Technology Licensing," July 8, 2012
• "Eight Tips for China Licensing Agreements"
• "China Licensing Agreements: The Extreme Basics," Oct. 12, 2015
• "China Licensing Agreements: Giving Your Technology a New and Profitable Life," Mar. 31, 2016
• "China Difficulties, Netflix, and Why We Love Licensing," Apr. 26, 2017
• "China Technology Licensing: The Questions We Ask," May 12, 2017
• "China Licensing Term Sheets," July 18, 2018
• "China Licensing Deals so Horrible They are Hard to Believe," Sept. 24, 2018
• "How to do Business with China Without Having to go to China: Licensing Deals," Feb. 29, 2020
• "China IP Licensing Deals," Sept. 14, 2020
• "China Technology and Trademark Licensing Agreements," Sept. 15, 2021

What advice do you have on how to successfully license your technology?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Workbook Designed to Help Companies Build Disaster Resilience

The previous post on this forum focused on a conversation between Linton Wells II, Ph.D., an Executive Advisor at George Mason University's Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC), and Annie Mustafá-Ramos, who manages the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust's Resiliency and Business Innovation Program (RBI) about building sustainability and community resilience through local businesses in Puerto Rico. During his remarks, Dr. Wells referenced "The Business Disaster Resilience 101 Workbook," a tool jointly produced by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and The UPS Foundation. The workbook is part of the the Resilience in a Box program, a collaborative partnership between the two aforementioned organizations as well as the World Economic Forum (WEF), CENACED, and the Disaster Resistant Business (DRB) Toolkit Workgroup.

"Small businesses are both highly vulnerable and without adequate resources with which to focus on taking preparedness actions," the workbook notes. "After a disaster, about 40% of small businesses will not reopen. An additional 25% close their doors over the following two years. Resilience in a Box is designed to give businesses the information crucial to readying themselves for any event that may occur: to survive and thrive, so the communities can survive and thrive."

Developed in Turkey as a pilot to help small businesses get better prepared, and to develop tools and training that can be easily exported to other countries, Resilience in a Box is based on best practices and designed to educate newcomers on Business Resilience. Consisting of three elements: Tools, Training, and Resources, the Resilience in a Box provides resources that will guide a company "toward addressing preparedness issues while building in the flexibility to handle potential business interruptions." 

What is more, "Resilience in a Box tools are designed to lead every business--even one with no disaster experience or understanding--towards improved resilience. The tools were developed with three levels: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. The Intermediate level builds upon the Basic tools in order to get businesses better informed and able to readily determine specific actions that will enhance their resilience against all hazards and potential interruptions. The 101 Workbook is an Intermediate level tool as it provides more detailed business readiness guidance, tips, and resources to assist companies by addressing their own assets before a disaster occurs."

According to the workbook, "Every business, no matter what type or how large, consists of critical assets. These are the building blocks of every business that, if taken away, would cause disruption and potentially catastrophic losses. To simplify identification of the critical assets, all have been condensed down into six categories: People, Data, Operations, Inventory, Equipment, and Buildings.

"The various components of these assets will vary from one business to another, but these six critical categories exist in some form or another in all companies. Assets will differ between businesses, although same industry types share more commonalities."

Based on my experience of creating corporate risk mitigation strategies, I concur that "Understanding what your critical assets are will assist you in identifying where your business is vulnerable to interruption. If most of a business' revenue comes primarily from its inventory, then a business should prioritize protecting or fortifying this asset from damage and losses from disasters such as a flood, earthquake, or fire."

In addition to the 101 Workbook, I appreciate the "Top 20 Tips for Business Preparedness" document that is part of the Resilience in a Box program's Basic Level:

GETTING STARTED

1. Build a Team to create your plan

2. Get Top Level Buy-in

3. Keep your disaster plan simple

PROTECT OPERATIONS

4. Gather critical documents & information needed for decision-making

5. Identify and then prioritize your critical operations and processes

6. Identify your hazards – the potential disruptions to your operations

7. Build Your Plan and create a "Grab-n-Go" case

PROTECT PEOPLE & RELATIONSHIPS

8. Maintain Contact lists – Update emergency lists for your employees, vendors, suppliers, and key contacts

9. Recruit employee volunteers to become trained emergency responders

10. Stockpile essential emergency supplies

11. Take the message home: Develop a prepared workforce – business readiness doesn’t end at work

PROTECT BUILDINGS, EQUIPMENT & DATA

12, Back up and protect your vital records and data

13. Take action to mitigate potential impacts to your equipment, buildings, and facilities

14. Protect your inventory and storage before it is lost to the disaster and you have nothing to sell

PROTECT YOUR BRAND

15. Establish and maintain communication in a crisis to ensure that your employees, suppliers, customers, and the public are getting the facts directly from you

16. Cultivate Partnerships

PUT YOUR PLAN INTO ACTION

17. Exercise and test your plan

18. Keep your plan updated

19, Implement the plan

20. Connect with the local economy

The 101 Workbook states: "After a disaster, countless stories can be told of small-to-medium sized businesses who relate stories with one common regret, 'I wish I had done something in advance.' For them, it was too late. It is not too late for you and your business to take action. Read this 101 Workbook and pick one step, then do it! Your business will be better prepared. Start now!"

I invite you to share your experience on how your business is building disaster resilience.

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Building Sustainability and Community Resilience Through Local Businesses: A Puerto Case Study

Through my experience working in Haïti, a country that shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, I witnessed how some businesses remained operational despite the destruction caused by natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes, or humanitarian disasters resulting from political or economic crises. Building resilience against all potential hazards or disruptions is an underlining reason for the enterprises' survival.

While Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory located just over 400 miles east of Haïti, is more developed with a 2019 gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (PPP) of $36,054 compared to to latter's per capita GDP of $3,034, according to The World Bank, the former faces the same natural disaster vulnerabilities. Now the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the economies of all Caribbean nations and territories. I recently watched an informative discussion entitled "Be Prepared to Bounce Forward Better: Building Sustainability and Community Resilience Through Local Businesses: A Puerto Rico Case Study," which presents many useful points on understanding resilience and how a business can utilize it to withstand disruption.

Leading the discussion, Linton Wells II, Ph.D., an Executive Advisor at George Mason University's Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC), explained that "resilience is the ability to have coping capacity plus the ability to adapt, which in the long-term may be referred as the ability to anticipate something, to withstand a disaster, to recover from it, which is coping capacity, and then the ability to adapt." There are three kinds of resiliency, according to Dr. Wells: resilience for cultural (is the organization willing to stand up and keep fighting when its under stress?), operational resilience (networks and communication sufficient for transmitting key messages, internally and externally), and infrastructural (understanding the dependencies among communication, power, and water, and how those affect a business). "Resilience is not just bouncing back to the pre-crisis status quo. What you want to do is leverage the stresses and shocks so that you actually wind up stronger. Be prepared to bounce forward better and that's what we are trying to build through resilience."

Dr. Wells also points out some people combine or confuse security and resilience. "They are really quite different. Security is how you lock things up and hunker down to keep bad things from happening. Resilience says I know bad things are going to happen, so how do we achieve the organization's goals under any level of shocks and stress, how do we fight back, how do we emerge stronger."

According to Dr. Wells, resilient capacity, which should not be confused for a program or strategy, is "actually a capacity of an organization" and "a function of leadership and has to be build at all levels. You have encourage resilience among your people from the board of directors to the people on the shop floor. It needs to be nurtured. It needs to be made sustainable. And treat it as a positive business asset that should be resourced." I appreciate his assertion that a more resilient business will be a stronger one. And as a result, it will be more likely to withstand disruption.

How do you learn from when bad things that happen? "Learning only happens when behavior changes," said Dr. Wells. "It's not enough to write a report. It's not enough to write an after-action review, You actually have to cause people to change behavior if you're going to truly learn the lessons. And this means you have to be able analyze shocks and see what's going on."

During his remarks, Dr. Wells referenced "The Business Disaster Resilience 101 Workbook," a tool jointly produced by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and The UPS Foundation. The 101 Workbook provides more detailed business readiness guidance, tips, and resources to assist companies by addressing their own assets before a disaster occurs. I will publish a future post on this forum focusing on this useful tool.

In responding to Dr. Wells' question on how she is using education and mentoring to build a more resilient, sustainable commonwealth, Annie Mustafá-Ramos, who manages the Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust's Resiliency and Business Innovation Program (RBI), said the courses and training sessions are helping Puerto Rican businesses to not just continue with their previous activities, but to pivot and adapt to other disasters they may encounter in the future. The program was created in 2017 as a result of disaster (Hurricane Maria) that devastated Puerto Rico.

According to the RBI's website, the program's mission and vision is "To foster a Resilient Business Community on the Island. Enhance the innovations that create business resiliency from entrepreneur development and SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program applicants." Administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration, SBIR and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) are programs to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of Federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy.

Among the work during the covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Mustafá-Ramos noted that over 1,500 individuals experienced the courses. Senior executives and lower-level employees alike, from represent businesses of all sizes, were able to create a resilience plan. In addition, the courses provided the opportunity to train professors, civic leaders, and nonprofit organizations and provide them with the tools to help businesses create a resilience plan.

As a result of the restrictions imposed by the Puerto Rican government to prevent the spread of covid-19, Ms. Mustafá-Ramos explained that service businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and retail shops were greatly impacted financially. However, the operational restrictions created an opportunity for businesses to adapt and pivot. Prohibited from serving customers in their establishment, restaurants pivoted to become a "ghost kitchen," which is a professional food preparation and cooking facility set up for the preparation of delivery-only meals. Brick-and-mortar retailers entered the world of e-commerce. Originally delivering in-person courses only, Ms. Mustafá-Ramos pointed out that people throughout the world were able to attend the resilience courses online.

Looking into the future, she said that investors should consider investing in Puerto Rico, which will generate much-needed jobs and stimulate economic development for the commonwealth." Puerto Rico "is a place to do business and this is the moment." I appreciate her enthusiasm.

Have you created a resilience plan to protect your business before disaster strikes?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

TradeTech Has the Potential to Facilitate and Promote Further International Trade by Lowering Barriers for Companies to Enter New Markets

According to a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), a Swiss-based international organization promoting public-private cooperation, "TradeTech is the set of technologies and innovations that enable global trade to be more efficient, inclusive and equitable. The interplay of technology and trade has a long history, spanning from advances in transportation to the advent of the container to the emergence of coordinated production networks."

Mapping TradeTech: Trade in the Fourth Industrial Revolution "considers modern TradeTech in two layers: (1) a first layer in which trade data and processes are transformed from analogue to digital; and (2) a second layer in which trade process optimization and synchronization occurs between different parties, and where emerging technologies play a key role." The report adds that  "TradeTech solutions work in bundles. While the second layer depends on data generated in the first one, it is also hard to separate artificial intelligence (AI) from robotics or the internet of things (IoT) from 5G."

Aiming "to shed light on the landscape of emerging trade technologies and consider the opportunities and challenges for each, with case studies used for illustration," the report notes:

Business perceptions show that many technologies have a significant impact on trade. The World Economic Forum launched a global survey to understand how firms are currently using technologies in international value chains and to assess which technologies will have the biggest impact on global trade. The results are being used to determine a landscape of technologies that have the biggest effect on trade in the short and medium term. According to this survey on TradeTech, conducted from June to September 2020, "fundamental" technologies such as digital documentation, digital platforms, digital payment and cloud computing are perceived as most relevant in the shorter term, along with IoT, digital

services and 5G. Technologies expected to affect trade in the longer term are robotics, virtual reality, 3D printing and AI.

On the topic of TradeTech for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the report says: "As the Fourth Industrial Revolution sets in, MSMEs face both opportunities and challenges in this wave of technological transformation. New technologies in trade, such as cloud computing, blockchain, IoT, big data and AI, present MSMEs with opportunities to tap into the technological edge previously only available to large firms. The application of new TradeTech can help MSMEs save costs, improve efficiency, streamline operations and scale up. Software as a service (SaaS) and e-commerce platforms have made trade more inclusive as there are no upfront costs."

As for supporting TradeTech adoption by MSMEs, the WEF suggests governments could support MSMEs in a number of ways, including by:

• Promoting education and IT skills development, through the inclusion of IT in school and university curricula, and encouraging public-private partnerships through internship programs
• Facilitating big data and AI tools that help MSMEs reduce market research costs and improve online visibility
• Improving information and communications technology (ICT) and logistics infrastructure
• Providing cybersecurity training
• Setting up a TradeTech network, composed of key stakeholders, that has the potential to maximize the scope and outreach of any given solution while encouraging the development of local solutions (for instance, a single web page might compile and easily display all the resources, tools and services offered by the members of the TradeTech network); given the lack of skilled human resources affecting companies, external experts might bridge the gap by providing qualified advice
• Establishing a benchmark for TradeTech adoption by MSMEs, which could help incentivize government reform actions to promote TradeTech adoption.

"Internationally," the report explains that "an increasing number of trade agreements include chapters on e-commerce and digital trade. Recent agreements, such as the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), include provisions on MSMEs and digital inclusion specifically. Commitments go from information sharing to enhancing public-private dialogue and cooperation involving e-commerce platforms."

Given my experience working in developing countries, I appreciate the report's assertion that "TradeTech offers developing countries leapfrog opportunities. The potential to seize these opportunities may vary by technology. TradeTech that requires higher capital, such as robotics and IoT, may be more challenging to diffuse in low-income country settings than technologies that are mainly software defined (e.g. blockchain, AI and digital platforms)."

What is more, "The network nature of TradeTech’s benefits, in which the more users there are of the technologies, the more value each user can derive from them (positive network externalities), creates incentives for the diffusion of technology worldwide.

"The most straightforward opportunities might come from the first layer of TradeTech, that is the digitalization of trade and logistics-related documents. This is a mature innovation in developed countries, where the opportunities for additional market expansion are limited, although certain developing countries have also advanced significantly in this area, for instance regarding e-invoicing."

The WEF says "TradeTech has the potential to facilitate and promote further international trade by lowering barriers for companies to enter new markets. Major TradeTech gains originate in good coordination between the different actors in supply chains. TradeTech, especially in its second layer, allows holistic decisions that can result in efficiency and environmental advantages for the whole value chain. Yet unintended consequences in terms of job displacement, competition and techno-nationalism trends require attention."

Moreover, "TradeTech's impact will depend on how data and tech interoperability are addressed, regulations are harmonized, and inclusive access to close the digital divide, also present in the trade space, is ensured. To deliver on TradeTech's promise, action is needed to build the trust required for supply chain transparency, to promote cooperation in tech regulation, to drive a trade facilitation agenda around interoperability, and to provide training for upskilling and reskilling workers."

Many will agree with the report's assertion that "[t]he COVID-19 pandemic has significantly accelerated the adoption of digital technologies and opened a window of opportunity to drive tech innovation in trade. The moment should be seized to use TradeTech to make global trade more efficient, inclusive and equitable."

How do you see emerging trade technologies facilitating and promoting international trade?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

E-Commerce Can Create Opportunities for Young People, Women, and Entrepreneurs in Iraq, Says UN Report

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, e-commerce was disrupting the brick-and-mortar retail industry. Not only did digital retail explode in industrialized markets, but developing countries are seeing signs of the industry's growth. The potential for a thriving e-commerce industry in developing countries has long existed provided that the necessary mechanisms (i.e., smartphones, mobile broadband, physical infrastructure and trade logistics) are in place. For example, while performing due diligence on Iraqi businesses that applied for business development funds provided by the United States government in the late 2000s, I had the opportunity to see role e-commerce can play in the development of the country's private sector. I witnessed how a thriving private sector powered by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is necessary for stabilization and sustainable development. Therefore, it was with great interest that I read a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) assessing Iraq's e-commerce and digital trade readiness.

Highlights from the report include:

The e-commerce ecosystem in Iraq, while emerging, is still facing major challenges.

• The country lacks a unified vision on e-commerce and the coordination required among stakeholders to accelerate the Iraqi digital development agenda.
• Years of conflict in Iraq have caused major damage to physical infrastructure. Rebuilding ICT infrastructure and improving trade logistics – especially in terms of customs' clearance processes – are key to building the foundations for e-commerce and the digital economy in Iraq.
• The customs' operational model in Iraq also needs an update, as time and costs to export and import goods in Iraq are among the highest globally. Some improvements have been made, by introducing new regulations on electronic processing of moving goods, but further reforms are needed.
• Other challenges are the limited role of Iraqi Post in the digital economy and the low integration of postal services with other e-commerce stakeholders, for both national and cross-border transactions.

Despite these challenges, there are important opportunities for Iraq to tap into the potential of e-commerce for development:

• The assessment shows that e-commerce would help stimulate domestic demand, boost trade and diversify Iraq's largely oil-based economy. Increased productivity and competition would push local industries to create new jobs, especially for the youth, who represent nearly 60% of the population.
• With the improved security environment, Iraq has a chance today to leverage digital technologies for economic diversification and for supporting more sustainable and inclusive development.
• The assessment can help the Government of Iraq mobilize the resources needed for the implementation of the key policy actions, thus moving the country towards its digital economic and social transformation.

On the topic of e-commerce skills development, the report asserts that Iraq's "entrepreneurial ecosystem is still nascent and shallow. Private sector institutions, companies and employees - especially MSMEs - lack the knowledge and expertise to effectively engage in e-commerce. Among MSMEs there is a general lack of awareness about the benefits of e-commerce; this is reflected in their priorities and plans that do not consider the potential benefits of online commerce, including access to new markets. Among the general population, trust in online transactions remains low."

Moreover, "The Iraqi public sector also lacks the skills and knowledge to develop an enabling environment for e-commerce and digital economy, which has been identified as a major challenge. This reality prevents public sector institutions from developing the necessary policies and programs to support the private sector, which relies on an enabling environment to drive innovation and introduce new products and services. Without an enabling environment supported and enhanced by the public sector, the potential of the private sector is constrained."

Once an enabling environment by the public sector to support private sector development is established, "the lack of access to financing for e-commerce startups and MSMEs, from the formal banking system and the non-banking financial system, is another barrier to the development of e-commerce in Iraq," the report explains. "The main reasons include the limited use of formal financial institutions by citizens and MSMEs, and the inability of financial institutions and financing initiatives to address the needs of customers such as startups, small businesses and women-run enterprises. Typically, the products and services offered by these financial institutions are geared towards large established firms in traditional sectors."

While "the Iraqi entrepreneurial system remains nascent," the report notes that "promising developments are emerging. Five innovation hubs have been established across the country and there is growing interest in digital innovations from local incubators and accelerators, the telecommunications company Zain, the donor community and other stakeholders."

The report optimistically concludes that the "emergence of e-commerce in Iraq is very promising and has the potential to create jobs, diversify the economy, stimulate domestic demand and increase exports. As the country continues to rebuild after years of conflict, e-commerce can provide a boost to many existing industries and create new opportunities for young people, women and aspiring entrepreneurs." Although it is unknown how covid-19 has impacted these innovation hubs, the drive to build a thriving e-commerce sector and digital economy in Iraq and throughout the Middle East region remains strong based on discussions with my colleagues in the region.

What are your recommendations for how Iraq can develop a thriving digital economy?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

Report Explores How Digitalization Can Create Quality Jobs in Africa and Contribute to Achieving the African Union's Vision for the Continent's Development

"COVID-19 poses an unprecedented threat to financing Africa's development by creating new risks and exacerbating pre-existing vulnerabilities," according to a report jointly prepared by the African Union's Commission for Economic Affairs and the OECD Development Centre with support of the European Union. More encouragingly, however, the report explains that the COVID-19 crisis is strengthening "the role of digitalization in contributing to Africa's productive transformation and in fulfilling Agenda 2063, the African Union's vision for the continent's development."

Africa's Development Dynamics 2021: Digital Transformation for Quality Jobs is a fact-filled annual reference book that "brings readers the latest information on development policies on the African continent and its five regions" – Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa. Furthermore, "It presents a new narrative assessing Africa's economic, social and institutional performance in light of the targets set by the African Union's Agenda 2063. This third edition of Africa’s Development Dynamics explores how digital transformation creates quality jobs and contributes to achieving Agenda 2063, thereby making African economies more resilient to the global recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic."

The report's Executive Summary importantly notes that "governments can drive Africa's digital transformation and trigger large-scale job creation, including outside the digital sector, through four complementary actions:

• "Promote the dissemination of digital innovations beyond large cities through place-based policies. Ensuring universal access to digital technologies calls for enhancing coverage, affordability and the availability of suitable content. Internet access has expanded thanks to the growing prevalence of mobile phones: 72% of Africans now use them regularly, with the highest number in North Africa (82%) and the lowest in Central Africa (63%). However, digital adoption remains unequal across genders, income groups and other groupings. Only 26% of the continent's rural dwellers use the Internet regularly, compared to 47% of its urban inhabitants.
• "Prepare Africa's workforce to embrace digital transformation and guarantee social protection. By 2040, own-account and family workers will represent 65% of employment under current trends. The share of own-account and family workers will be the highest in West Africa, accounting for 74% of employment in 2040, and the lowest in North Africa at 25%. Presently, 45% of youth feel their skills are inappropriate for their jobs. The apparition of new livelihoods on the web requires setting solid regulatory schemes and providing social protection for informal iWorkers.
• "Remove barriers to innovation that prevent smaller firms from competing in the digital age. Dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need support to adopt the most appropriate digital tools for innovation and trade. For example, having a website is positively associated with a 5.5% increase in the share of direct exports in firms' sales. Only 31% of firms in Africa's formal sector have a website, compared to 39% in Asia and 48% in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, only 17% of Africa's early-stage entrepreneurs expect to create at least six jobs, the lowest percentage globally. Enticing these firms to scale up is critical for job creation.
• "Deepen regional and continental co-operation for digital transformation. Digital technologies pose new challenges to national regulators. Supranational co-operation can provide solutions in areas such as digital taxation, digital security, privacy, personal data protection and cross-border data flows. Harmonizing continental and regional regulations is an important complement to national laws. As of today, only 28 countries in Africa have personal data protection legislation in place, while 11 have adopted substantive laws on digital security incidents."

To support the four recommended actions above, the report presents the main policy areas for digital transformation for each of the five regions:

Central Africa

• Co-ordinate investment in digital infrastructure regionally to expand coverage and ensure inclusive and reliable access.
• Equip the workforce with the adequate skills to facilitate the school-to-work transition and reduce the skills mismatch.
• Leverage digital technologies to promote entrepreneurship and foster the digital transformation of regional value chains.
• Implement, monitor and evaluate digital strategies at the regional and national levels.

East Africa

• Facilitate the school-to-work transition, notably through digital literacy and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs, and monitor technological developments to anticipate future skills requirements.
• Nurture digital entrepreneurship and innovation by adapting the regulatory environment, and promote technology parks, notably through easier financing.
• Strengthen regional co-operation on digitalization, and mobilize public and private resources for regional infrastructure.
• Set up a single digital market by promoting seamless connectivity, harmonizing regulations and facilitating the interoperability of cross-border payments.

North Africa

• Support the development of financial technology by loosening regulatory constraints and experimenting with new regulations (e.g. sandboxes).
• Modernize education and training systems by monitoring and evaluating digital literacy and programs for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and promote lifelong learning and reskilling of the workforce.
• Encourage digital entrepreneurship by fostering innovation through public-private partnerships and improving governance in the region.

Southern Africa

• Reduce the digital divide by developing reliable and affordable digital infrastructure beyond urban centers.
• Improve the quality of education and promote lifelong learning to meet future skills demand.
• Harmonize existing digital initiatives at the national and regional levels, and accelerate their implementation, targeting the digital transformation of strategic value chains.

West Africa

• Strengthen government support to technology parks and start-up incubators, and monitor progress.
• Implement supportive regulatory frameworks to develop fintech, foster financial inclusion and diversify sources of financing for private sector development.
• Support entrepreneurs and SMEs in using digital technologies, especially in agricultural sectors, to strengthen their integration into regional and global value chains.
• Invest in human capital to align skills with future market needs, and promote TVET through strategic partnerships with the private sector.

Regarding cybersecurity, the report reveals that "Only a fifth of African countries have a legal framework for cybersecurity (digital security), while just 11 countries have adopted substantive laws on cybercrime (digital security incidents)." What is more, "In 2014, the 23rd Assembly of the AU Heads of State and Government adopted a Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection as a first step towards continental co‑operation. Yet, as of June 2020, only 14 AU member states had signed it, and 5 had ratified it (Ghana, Guinea, Mauritius, Namibia and Senegal). This is still far from the 15 ratifications required for the Convention to enter into force."

And addressing the urgency for cooperation in digital security, the report asserts that the "cost of cybercrime in Africa is increasing and brings the risk of holding back Africa's digital revolution. Several assessments show that Africa's online ecosystem is one of the most vulnerable in the world."

Lastly, the report includes an editorial authored by H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, and H.E. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which says, in part, "For Africa’s economic recovery to be sustainable, the digital transformation must be felt in all of the continent's priority sectors. This will require the commitment of all stakeholders, both private and public, and of the continent's partners."

What are your recommendations for how to stimulate the digitalization of economic sectors to kick-start a new growth cycle after COVID-19?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.

SBA Launches Its 'Ascent for Women' Online Platform Geared to Help Women Entrepreneurs Grow and Expand Their Businesses

"Women entrepreneurs start and own nearly half of all businesses in the United States, employ 9.4 million workers, generate $1.9 trillion in revenue and represent all industries," the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) said in a press release announcing the launch of its new initiative for women interested in starting or growing their small businesses. According to the Jan. 11th, 2021 announcement, Ascent for Women is "a first-of-its-kind, free digital e-learning platform geared to help women entrepreneurs grow and expand their businesses. Ascent has valuable content such as tips on preparing and recovering from disasters, strategic marketing and business financial strategy development."

A joint initiative between the White House, the SBA, the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Ascent is "designed to support women entrepreneurs looking to remain resilient in their operations" and the platform "is packed with content and resources from each agency and backed by academic research," the press statement explained.

Developed by experts in women's entrepreneurship, the platform is divided into major topics called Journeys. Within each Journey, users will find Excursions with the tools they need to master a topic. Each excursion includes a time estimate for completion. Below is a list of items users can explore within Excursions:

• Exercises & Tools: Learn and apply growth practices to your business;
• Fireside Chats: Learn from experts about how women grow their businesses;
• Infographics: Gain a snapshot view of growth concepts;
• Success Stories: Be inspired by stories from real-world entrepreneurs;
• Discussion Guides: Use questions to stimulate thinking for you, your advisors or team;
• Videos: Grasp key concepts in just minutes;
• Key Insights: Understand key topics to support your business growth; and
• Self-Assessments: Benchmark your current practices through self-focused inventories.

The aforementioned press release noted that "Ascent offers several key journeys to assist women business owners with strategies towards growth and success, including Disaster & Economic Recovery, Strategic Marketing, Your People, Your Business Financial Strategy and Access to Capital. Each journey contains content and tools needed to grow your business. Additional topics will be added over time."

This initiative is one of two learning platforms created by the SBA designed to empower and educate small business owners, The previous post on this blog focuses on the SBA's Learning Center, which is aimed to help small business owners start, pivot, or grow their business.

SBA Launches Largest Expansion of Women's Business Centers in 30 Years

Prior to announcing the launch of the Ascent for Women platform, the SBA issued a press release on Jan. 4th, 2021 saying "grant funding and the historic launch of 20 new Women’s Business Centers (WBC) across America to serve rural, urban and underserved communities alike. The opening of the 20 new WBCs is the largest single expansion of WBCs across America in its 30-year tenure, and these centers will be pivotal to the success of women-owned businesses as they continue to recover during this time. The WBCs will be hosted in rural and underserved markets and widen the footprint and partnership with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)."

The press statement added that "SBA's WBCs are a national network of 136 centers that offer one-on-one counseling, training, networking, workshops, technical assistance, and mentoring to women entrepreneurs on numerous business development topics, including business startup, financial management, marketing, and procurement."

What are your thoughts about the SBA's initiatives to help women entrepreneurs? Are there additional resources you recommend?

Aaron Rose is a board member, corporate advisor, and co-founder of great companies. He also serves as the editor of GT Perspectives, an online forum focused on turning perspective into opportunity.