infoDev’s Business Incubator Initiative

Scaling Up ICT-Enabled Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Innovation and entrepreneurship are fundamental to While the innovation and drive are there, the obstacles
expanding economic opportunities, increasing facing such start-ups are often insurmountable. These
competitiveness, and reducing poverty in developing include: limited and costly access to telecom services,
countries. Information and communication technologies particularly the Internet; burdensome business
(ICTs) can be powerful tools in this area, helping firms in regulations; an absence of basic business support
traditional sectors to reach new customers and to improve services; lack of advice, mentoring and best practice
productivity and competitiveness. ICTs can also present guidance; and limited access to appropriate financial
aspiring entrepreneurs with new business opportunities, resources to help businesses grow to the stage where they
such as the provision of connectivity, hardware, software can attract institutional investors.
and information systems, as well as ICT-enabled services. In 2002, in response to these challenges, and with support
from the Government of Japan, infoDev
launched the Business Incubator Initiative,
aimed at fostering ICT-enabled
What is Business Incubation? entrepreneurship and private sector
infoDev broadly defines incubation as the provision of targeted development in developing countries. The
services to support ICT-enabled small enterprises. Central to the Initiative has also received additional funds
concept of business incubation, is the provision of support for new from the governments of Finland and India,
businesses through the early stages of development. This involves along with counterpart funding for
helping them to establish and accelerate their growth and success, and individual incubators from local
then “graduating” them when they reach a certain level of maturity. governments, private sector partners, and
other donor agencies. Total contributions to
the Incubator Initiative amount to US$ 13.5
Scaling up ICT-enabled innovation and entrepreneurship million.
is a complex challenge that is highly dependent on local
circumstances and resources. Many developing countries The Incubator Initiative has supported more than 60
have looked to China, India and Singapore, attempting to business incubators worldwide. infoDev provides
replicate their success stories through costly investments financial and technical assistance to help existing
in facilities such as call centers and cyberparks, with incubators improve and scale up operations; facilitates
mixed results. infoDev is helping developing countries development of new incubators; encourages innovative
and donors think strategically about how their support for local uses of ICTs and entrepreneurship; and has
ICT innovation and entrepreneurship can be optimized established a knowledge-sharing network among business
within unique country and regional circumstances. Recent incubators that supports ICT-enabled SME development.
infoDev work in this area has been centered on its This has culminated in the establishment of the Global
Business Incubator Initiative and related research and Network on Business Incubation, as well as regional
analysis aimed at helping developing countries effectively
identify and respond to local challenges and opportunities
in the area of ICT-enabled private sector development. “Growing economies need innovation
… business incubators help by offering
The Business Incubator Initiative solutions for the common people to
articulate their genius and turn it into
Throughout the developing world, entrepreneurs are
working to establish businesses that are “ICT-enabled”— commercial products.”
—H.E. Kapil Sibal, India’s Minister of
offering ICT services or, in some way utilizing ICTs as a State for Science and Technology and Ocean
fundamental aspect of their business model.
networks that allow organizations with similar cultural
and regional contexts to share lessons and ideas for how
to best operate and affect change in their environments.
The Networks have provided infoDev and the participants
with insights into establishing and operating sustainable
business incubators, and the challenges facing technology
entrepreneurs from across the developing world. infoDev
is using this information to develop a rich body of
knowledge that can guide policymakers, donors and
others as they seek to support and promote ICT-enabled
entrepreneurship and innovation in developing countries.
infoDev is also currently completing a large-scale
international evaluation of its business incubator
initiative. This exercise will yield valuable lessons about
how to best promote ICT-enabled innovation and
entrepreneurship, and make available monitoring and
evaluation methodology and benchmarks that can be
utilized beyond infoDev-supported programs.
Linking Knowledge and Action
Building upon the Incubator Initiative, infoDev has
sponsored a series of studies designed to give developing
countries and donors more in-depth understanding of
local challenges and opportunities for ICT-enabled private
sector development. These studies are supporting new
strategies and programs in several regions.
infoDev supports establishment of
business incubators in the Eastern
Caribbean
In 2004, infoDev and the European Union (EU)
jointly sponsored a study and workshop on the
role of ICTs in improving competitiveness and
increasing economic diversification in the
Caribbean. The EU has continued to work with
infoDev on designing and implementing business
incubators in St. Lucia and St.Vincent and the
Grenadines. This work resulted in the
establishment, in 2006, of the first business
incubators in the Eastern Caribbean. The
experience of designing these business incubators
is being captured in a new infoDev toolkit on
business incubation in small island developing
states.
Recent studies include: Financing Technology
Entrepreneurs, which outlines the challenges faced by
ICT and ICT-enabled SMEs in gaining access to external
financing; an Assessment of International Best Practice
for the Establishment of Sustainable Information
Technology Parks, including three country studies for
The Promise of IT-Enabled Services/
Business Process Outsourcing (ITES/
BPO)
The global market for ITES/BPO has been
estimated at US $300 billion (and thus far, only 10
percent has been realized). India is the dominant
player, with dramatic growth in employment in the
sector from 42,000 people in 2002 to an estimated
470,000 people in 2006. The sector has strong
potential for direct and indirect job creation
(NASSCOM estimates that for every job created
in the ITES-BPO sector, four jobs are created in
other service sectors). This fact, and the relatively
low capital and physical infrastructure investment
requirements, have generated significant interest
across the developing world.
Russia, Jordan and Vietnam; and country-level
Competitive Assessments designed to help policymakers
learn from countries which have successfully used ICTs
to increase competitiveness. Four recent studies of the
Caribbean (see box, left), Tanzania, Ghana and Uganda
have provided input into key strategies of developing
countries and donors.
In Ghana, infoDev’s work is providing a framework for
evaluating the key drivers for the ICT-enabled service
sector (ITES/BPO) to help the government and its
development partners take concrete steps to support the
growth of this sector. (see box on ITES/BPO, above)
infoDev’s Business Incubator Initiative, coupled with its
analytical work program on ICT-enabled private sector
development, provides infoDev with the tools to help
developing countries and their development partners
strategically assess opportunities in the ICT sector and to
design effective and sustainable initiatives.
ެ October 2006
Information for Development Program
infoDev is a global partnership of international development
agencies working to maximize the impact of ICTs in
development efforts.
• Through its cutting-edge research and analysis, infoDev has
become a global resource of knowledge on ICT for
Development (ICT4D).
• Through innovative pilot projects, support for training and
capacity building, and action-oriented toolkits and
handbooks infoDev is helping policymakers and donors
turn ICT knowledge into action.
www.infodev.org/businessincubation
infoDev Incubator Grantee Institutions

Country Proponent Organization

AFRICA
Angola Nacional Institute for Employment & Vocational Training (INEFOP)

Ghana Busy Internet

Kenya Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)/ Kenya Kountry
Business Incubator (KeKoBI)

Mauritius National Computer Board (NCB)

Namibia IT@AB Network - Namibia

Rwanda Technology and Business Incubation Facility (TBIF)

Senegal National Council of Negro Women/International Division (NCNW)

South Africa Voxel Technology Innovation Support Centre

South Africa Bodibeng Technology Incubator (BTI)

Tanzania World Ahead Consulting Network

Uganda Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI)

ASIA
China Yangling Business Incubation Center

China The Tianjin Women’s Business Incubator (TWBI)

China Shanghai Technology Business Incubation Association (STBIA)

India Indiaco.com (P) Limited

India Tiruchirappalli Regional Engineering College-Science & Tech. Entrepreneurs Park

India Society for Research & Initiative for Sustainable Tech. & Resources (SRISTI)

India Telecommunications and Computer Networks Group (TeNET)

India Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)

Indonesia Koperasi Starcall Wartelnet

 Country Proponent Organization
Indonesia Broadband Network System (BNS)

Malaysia Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

Mongolia InfoCon Co., Ltd

Nepal IT Professional Forum (ITF)

Philippines UP-AFI Joint Experimental Facility - AYALA Foundation

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Technology Incubator (Pvt) Ltd. - ConceptNursery

Sri Lanka Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) - th Asia Sou

Thailand Kenan Institute Asia (KIAsia)

Thailand National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA)

Vietnam Center of Research and Consulting on Management (CRC)

EASTERN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

Armenia Viasphere Technopark

Azerbaijan Information and Telecommunication Technologies Development Association

(INFOTEK)

Bulgaria Applied Research and Communications Fund

Georgia Civil Society Support Centre / Georgian Technical University Innovation Foundation

Kazakhstan SODBI Business Incubator Shymkent

Kyrgz Republic Union Of Business Incubators And Innovation Centers of Kyrgyz Republic

Romania Business Incubator Centre Baia Mare, Romania

Turkey Ankara Cyberpark Inc.

Turkey METUTECH

Ukraine Ukrainian Business Incubators & Innovation Centres Association (UBICA-ICT)

Uzbekistan The Association of Business Incubators and Technoparks of Uzbekistan (ABIT)

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Bolivia Quipus Cultural Foundation

Brazil Minas Gerais Incubators Network

Brazil Technological Incubator of Popular Cooperatives of the Federal University of Rio de

Janeiro – ITCP

Brazil Instituto Gênesis da PUC-Rio

 Country Proponent Organization
Brazil ANPROTEC

Chile Access Nova

Colombia INNOVAR and Corporación Bucaramanga Emprendedora (CBE)

Colombia Incubadora Parque Tecnologico Del Software De Cali (Parquesoft)

Colombia Corporación para el Desarrollo de Tunía (Corpotunía)

Costa Rica Comisión Asesora en Alta Tecnología de Costa Rica (CAATEC)

Dominican Republic Cyberpark of Santo Domingo

Ecuador NCOVAL, EMPRENDER, STRATEGA BDS, Ecuadorian Network of Incubators

Mexico University of Guadalajara

Panama Panama Technology Business Accelerator – PTBA

Paraguay Fundación Enlace

Peru Centro de Innovación y Desarrollo de la Pontificia Universidad Católica

Uruguay Ingenio–Incubadora de empresas LATU – ORT

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

Iran Isfahan Science & Technology Town (ISTT)

Jordan National Consortium for Technology and Business Incubation

Morocco Moroccan Information Technopark Company

Morocco Al Akhawayn University Incubator

Tunisia Elgazala Park of Communication Technologies

West Bank and Gaza Islamic University of Gaza

West Bank and Gaza The Palestine Information and Communications Technology Incubator