Abstract:

In 2010 the Erasmus Project Cross Border Virtual Incubator (CBVI) was initiated with the central aim of implementing a virtual incubator for distance teaching universities. This was primarily met through exchange and communication of research results about the existing incubators in the countries of the partners of the project: Germany, Spain, Hungary, Holland, Rumania, United Kingdom, Austria, Estonia, Sweden, Italy, Poland and Turkey.

One of the intermediate objectives of the project was to organize pilot entrepreneurship courses for the students of those universities. This paper explores the role of academics in this process, the economic literature related to entrepreneurship education and the main results from the (virtual) pilot course on entrepreneurship, as organized by Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in the project Cross Border Virtual Incubator (CBVI).

Two aspects of the entrepreneurship pilot have our specific interest: (1) The use of, alternative and more certain approaches to testing company startup data of sectors, as compared to methods that are based on rather probabilistic knowledge, (2) The use of 3D environments, to support the business planning process by knowledge sharing and social cohesion among student starters. In the following paper, the main themes, conclusions and future challenges identified through this project are presented and discussed.

Keywords:

Entrepreneuship, Open and Distance Education, Virtual Business Planning, Virtual Incubator, Virtual 3D platform.