Abstract
The winter solstice has come and gone and despite days being shorter the wonder and exhilaration that light might bring seems to have eluded the resetting of time. I am referring, rather parochially, to the Northern hemisphere, but the bleakness of the season, rain, snow, ice and variously named storms here seem to have a disproportionate effect on the world as we know. Wars and bombs and the spectre of dangerous or dysfunctional leadership constitute the order of the day. Strange claims have been made previously between the connection between wars and technological innovation and that the enterprise of war has often provided for the environment for technological experiments with guns, missiles, drones, and the like, which have later been converted to civilian use. But the rattle that we hear does not fill at least this editor’s mind with thoughts of genuine, sustainable innovation.
Good, productive entrepreneurship and innovation offers hope to us all, and rich earnings to some. And despite the gloom that I refer to above, there is entrepreneurial light shining here and there to warm our hearts and minds. Take the story of a crypto currency (bitcoin) owner backing a small English football team in a minor league, inspiring a local community to emerge, grow and excel in something so many people are passionate about. Or consider how a Kenyan start-up is aiming to share satellite imagery from the constellation of six satellites covering 30.7 million square kilometers, and AI-powered crop health monitoring including the measurement of soil quality, moisture and vegetation, with subsistence farmers. 1 There is so much more to find, explore, ruminate over and analyse critically about new ventures from Amsterdam to Zanzibar, and from earth to space, as we look for a different set of opportunities in the world, those that generate prospects for sustainability, while upsetting established mores, concepts and practices of entrepreneurship as we know it now. I hope this is what we shall not cease from exploring in JEIEE, one step or perhaps many steps at a time.
For now, and with this issue, we take a steady step forward with a special issue (SI) on social entrepreneurship and how this now well-established phenomenon is being challenged by a range of uncertainties and changing technologies. Based on a conference organized by the Tata Institute of Sciences in Mumbai, India, the various papers in the SI, led by its editors Archana Singh and Samapti Guha, navigate waters of uncertainty, explore the solid ground of resilience, consider the impact of cataclysmic changes wrought by disease such as COVID-19, and analyse the scalability and sustainability prospects offered by digital technologies and other issues. The issue has its own introduction which covers the scope, purpose, and substance of the SI. I hope you will read these selected articles with interest and pleasure.
This issue closes with a notice about another highly topical special issue on social and economic dynamics in the era of the digital entrepreneur, allowing potential contributors to right at the cutting edge of entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology. We welcome articles from all who are interested in the exciting dynamics at play in our digital world today.
Welcome to Vol. 10. Issue 1 and to a worthwhile new year.