The International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub operates in the cross-segment of the entrepreneurial and academic ecosystems, providing educational resources and research such as case studies, podcasts, interviews, research papers, articles and other curated content on Canadian entrepreneurs and SMEs.
The growing movement to promote entrepreneurship within academia combined with the push from governments to support innovation within SMEs has led to a need for collaborative initiatives such as the IE-Knowledge Hub platform.
There is a lack of educational resources showcasing stories about Canadian entrepreneurs and SMEs and the innovation ecosystems that support them.
By bringing together these stories, we can shape a greater narrative contributing to the Canadian knowledge economy and help identify opportunities for synergies to promote greater collaboration.
The International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub was originally created with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) received through research grant applications on international entrepreneurship by professor Hamid Etemad of McGill University.
From 2013 to 2021, IEKnowledge Hub produced 16 video case studies accompanied by 12 case studies written by university researchers. The content was created to address the lack of educational resources focused on Canadian entrepreneurs and SMEs operating in international markets.
The methodology for producing the case studies was developed by professors Etemad and Hamed Motaghi from the Université du Québec en Outaouais in collaboration with the production team at Cartouche Média, represented by Thierry Harris and Mélissa Gendron. Together they developed a unique system to collaborate with entrepreneurs and support actors along with a design process and specialised workflow for producing this type of content.
In 2019, the ie-knowledgehub.ca website was created to host the case studies so university professors could access the content more easily and use it in their courses.
In 2020, the Market Hunt, a podcast about entrepreneurs hunting for new markets was created to offer an alternative form of content.
In 2023, six more case studies were produced in collaboration with the Université du Québec en Outaouais, with funding from the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur. The team expanded with the addition of Reda Bensouda, a strategic advisor in digital innovation and cybersecurity at the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
In 2024, a French version of the platform, Savoir Innover, was created to expand the audience.
Dr. Hamid Etemad is a Professor of International Business and Marketing in the Desautels Faculty of Management of McGill University. His current and recent research interests, and publications, are focused on international entrepreneurship and support ecosystem for innovative start-ups. Read more.
He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of International Entrepreneurship (JIEN), and the Series-Editor of two series of book volumes — the McGill International Entrepreneurship (MIE) Series of books and the New Horizons in International Entrepreneurship Series (Edward Elgar Publishing). He is also the founding father and co-convener of the McGill International Entrepreneurship Conference (MIEC) Series, in its 25th annual edition now. The MIE’s book series has published seven volumes already and the 8th volume is in press; while JIEN’s is currently publishing its 18th annual volume with quarterly issues.
He has edited 10 book volumes and guest-edited more than 15 scholarly journal issues, including Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, International Marketing Review, International Management Review, Small Business Economics, Journal of international Entrepreneurship, Management International Review, among others. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals, conference proceedings and book volumes.
He is a member of editorial boards of six peer-reviewed scholarly journals and the scientific committee member of a few scholarly conferences.
He has held many administrative, elected and public offices, including the Past President, President and Vice-President of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC), Academic Senate of McGill University (four three-year terms), Director of Business and Management Research Center, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs at the McGill Faculty of Management, Vice President Finance of McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT) and many terms as International Business and General Management Area Coordinators.
His current research interests include International Entrepreneurship, High-growth and Rapidly Internationalizing Firms (funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the support Ecosystems for innovative start-ups. He is the principal investigator of a large strategic grant ($1.953 Millions) funded by SSHRC, entitled as International Entrepreneurship Strategic Knowledge Cluster, which launched the “ie-scholar.net” networks and its corresponding ie-scholar website.
He is currently serving as Executive Director of the Ie-Knowledge Hub initiative. He leads the building and expansion of the International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (https://ie-knowledgehub.ca/) containing many video and traditional case studies of internationalizing innovative Canadian SMEs, progressive entrepreneurs and advancing sectors (e.g., Artificial intelligence, Photonics, Pharmaceuticals, Space Science, Sustainable Building Architecture and Designs, among others). A series of podcasts are updating and addressing current issues, including Fintech, Artificial intelligence, Advanced Technologies, Internationalization of Location-bound Resources, among many others.
He acknowledges the invaluable assistance of Professor Hamed Motaghi of the University of Quebec at Outaouais in Gatineau, Québec, as the Managing Director of Ie-KnowledgeHub and Cartouche Media as the main Agency Producing the ie-knowledgehub.ca academic content.
He holds a Ph.D and MBA (both from Haas School of Business Administration, University of California at Berkeley) a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering and Design (from the School of Engineering at UC, Berkeley) and M.Eng. (from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tehran). He was inducted to the Beta, Gamma Sigma National Honour Society.
Dr. Hamed Motaghi is Associate Professor of Business Technology Management at the University of Quebec (Outaouais- UQO). He is an active member of Chair of Strategy and Society, HEC Montreal, Cognitive Science Institute, UQAM, and Managing Director of the International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, a collaborative research project in partnership with McGill University. Prior to his position at UQO, he was a post-doctorate fellow in the marketing department at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. He holds a Ph.D. with distinction where his dissertation focused on the relationship between creativity and information technology achieved through a joint Ph.D. program administered at University of Quebec of Montreal (UQAM). He also holds a master’s degree from University of Paris Dauphine, France and an engineering degree from University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France. In addition, he was adjunct professor at UQAM, Royal Military College of Canada, HEC Montreal, and Lawrence Technological University, MI, USA.
His main research interests are innovation/creativity, creative and cultural industries and the role of technology, ethnic entrepreneurship, and internationalization process of firms.
An inspired communicator and coalition builder, Thierry Harris began his career at Radio Canada International producing award-winning programming including Digital Diversity, Embracing Canada and A New Face for Beijing.
In 2009, Harris co-founded Cartouche Media, where he worked with organisations such as UQO, McGill University, Scotiabank and the United States Embassy to produce compelling and highly targeted content, in addition to negotiating licensing deals with Netflix, Bell and RDS.
As host and producer of the Savoir Innover web series, Harris navigates business topics such as innovation, digital transformation and international expansion. Harris also hosted Market Hunt, a podcast about entrepreneurs hunting for new markets and Zones Grises, a live show focused on the journey from researcher to innovation leader.
A founding partner in the International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub platform funded by the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Harris acts as a connector between academia, industry and innovation ecosystems.
At V1 Studio, Harris helped build a coalition for a $10 million Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada grant, negotiated partnerships with 12 universities for the Quebec Scientific Entrepreneurship program and developed a brand, communications and go-to-market strategy for the Scientific and Innovation Venture program in collaboration with the Fonds de recherche du Québec, Axelys and Mitacs.
Reda Bensouda is a strategic advisor in digital innovation and cybersecurity at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. Holder of a bachelor's degree in international business from the University of Ottawa and a master's degree in project management from the Université du Québec en Outaouais, Reda has held the positions of General Manager of In-Sec-M, the Canadian cybersecurity industry cluster, and Director of Export Outaouais, the export promotion organization for the Outaouais region. Passionate about the sustainable economic development of communities and territories, Reda has conducted more than thirty studies and marketing plans and organized several innovation and market development events at both national and international levels.
