Youth employment using innovation as starting point

To understand deeply the benefits of incubators and accelerators for business development for young people, but also the problems they face regularly, we need to analyze and discuss how the model of incubators and accelerators can reduce youth unemployment and thus contribute to sustainable economic development. A very serious and disturbing problem which, according to various local and international reports, presents young people's non-employment in Kosovo at a very high percentage and praises their contribution to economic development as very small.

The biggest benefits for young people, which come from various programs developed within incubators or business development accelerators, is education they receive from different training, co-operation with each other, group work and exposure to different factors inside and outside incubators and accelerators.

On the less positive side, incubators in most cases have high expectations regarding the financing and growth of business or the product they are developing. The expectation is that the idea of business or developing product will automatically improve their lives, unfortunately not often. Because the rate of failure is too high and unfortunately the innovative idea of creating incubators and accelerators has made them almost uninnovative. Unfortunately, startup founders often end up alone in their ideas, trying to further develop their product, instead of exposing themselves to professionals from different fields where they would present or defend / argue their product.

On the other hand, policymakers often discuss the necessary measures for economic development and to create new jobs, but on the other hand, they do not develop new policies or thinking to renew traditional companies, which then makes it difficult to achieve much needed change that would improve the problem of unemployment, especially among young people and thus improve proper economic development.

So all those involved should think and ask themselves some questions. How can we promote youth employment by using innovation as the starting point? How can young people contribute to increased innovation of existing companies / corporations? How can public and private funds be directed toward that goal? And how can the skills and energy of unemployed young people be used?

The model of information on ideas or products generated by young people for technological innovation is an important and more appropriate option. In this way, with the support of public funds and fiscal benefits, existing in collaboration with young people from all walks of society and communities, they can develop innovative products that will be accepted by existing companies or corporations. Institutions should work harder to support a number of programmes across the country, with a local strategy that would facilitate youth participation from urban and rural areas, but also from different communities with a particular focus on marginalised ones.

Eventually, developed programs would enable that:

• Any youth who is unemployed can apply to participate in physically scattered modules and also through social media.

• Fashions to be followed with a phase of developing ideas, deciding for a product, idea or project, and form a team to execute it.

• Team members must have the necessary skills to execute the idea or product they have chosen.

• While incubators or accelerators identify these teams and explore or select the most promising ideas to enter the acceleration phase and help build a concrete proposal based on a stable business model.

• In the end, these teams must be equipped or filled up with managerial skills and competence regarding human resource management.

• In this way it is viewed as a business idea and teams that can be serviced by businesses and not necessarily viewed as projects that develop individually and are eventually bought by businesses.

All of this can be achieved if we have a public stimulating policy to support this model, especially given that applicants are young and a number of ideas will not succeed.

Aurori is engaged as Program Coordinator near the Regimental Office for Youth Co-operation - RYCO