The University of Applied Sciences of Upper Austria and the JKU's LIT Open Innovation Center were delighted to host this year's ECN conference in Linz for the first time. Between Wednesday, September 13, and Thursday, September 14, the Tabakfabrik and the LIT OIC focused on the topic of entrepreneurship.

The annual ECN conference not only supports in-person interaction between 29 Austrian start-up focused universities, the event aims to encourage and support entrepreneurial approaches. In addition to (inter)national best practices, there were numerous opportunities to discuss corresponding issues pertaining to entrepreneurship and start-up companies, focusing on education in entrepreneurship, spin-off companies, and creating these companies.

At the Tabakfabrik on Wednesday afternoon, the local ecosystem introduced itself to invitees from start-up centers at Austrian universities. Following a tour of the Grand Garage - a "Maker Space" used by, among others, the Danube Cup winners AirMate (to produce prototypes of their life-vests), factory300 and the Startrampe of Sparkasse Oberösterreich provided insight into the local start-up environment. Representatives from educational institutions such as the JKU (Elisabeth Ulbrich), FH OÖ (Gerold Weisz), the Linz University of Art & Design (Andre Zogholy), the Innovation Capital of the City of Linz (Ana Zuljevic), WKOÖ (Alexander Stockinger), Softwarepark Hagenberg (Sonja Mündl), Tech Harbor (Georg Spiesberger), Tech2b (Bernhard Schaffer), and the Startups Upper Austria association (Mathias Fink) were on stage. A start-up panel featuring Gerold Weisz (FH OÖ), Markus Koblmüller (TeamEcho), and Lukas Krainz (Vereinsplaner) and a pitch session by Startrampe gave the ECN network an opportunity to immerse itself in Linz's start-up scene.

The LIT OIC was pleased to host the conference at the Forum on Thursday, especially as the OIC supports start-up and spin-off companies as a key focus area. Participants were able to experience the support first-hand during a guided tour, including the indoor slide!

Christopher Lindinger (Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation at the JKU Linz) and Elisabeth Ulbrich (head of Operations at the LIT OIC) spoke about the importance of having a strong start-up culture at the JKU Linz. Elisabeth Berger (JKU Linz) explored rivalry and partnerships as part of an entrepreneurship ecosystem, and Rudolf Dömötör (head of the WU Vienna Start-up Center) presented intriguing findings from an ECN survey about the universities' third mission. During working sessions, conference participants devised concrete calls-to-action to create a guide for spin-off companies as well as guidelines to further advance education in entrepreneurship.

Markus Wartiovaara (director of the Hanken Business Lab in Finland) was invited to deliver a best-practice presentation titled "Student Engagement for Entrepreneurial Awareness" in which he addressed the importance of the "3-E's: Entrepreneurship - Education - Entertainment" under the motto: "Students Out of the Classroom!". He pointed out just how important an inspirational setting is, particularly as part of entrepreneurship education at universities.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Monique Schlömmer and Rudolf Dömötör (WU Gründungszentrum) for successfully organizing the conference and encouraging an Austria-wide platform to support dialogue and exchange!