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Internationally, Technology Business Incubators have become
increasingly popular as an economic development tool since the late
1980s.
Technology Incubators now account for around 40% of all
Incubators in the United States with a similar proportion in other
nations. Technology Incubation in Australia took off in 2000 when
the Federal Government announced the establishment of 10 Technology
Incubators under the Building on Information Technology Strengths
(
BITS) Incubator Program.
Outside of the 'BITS' Incubators, other Australian technology
Incubators include the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast and i.lab
in Brisbane, and Incubators at the Australian Technology Park in
Redfern, Sydney and the La Trobe Research and Development Park.
Features of Technology Incubators:
·frequently affiliated with a University
·typically more expensive to set up and run than a mixed
use Incubator due to facilities set-up and higher staffing
costs
·selective client entry policies with defined entry
criteria, typically seeking businesses with high growth
potential
·the main technology sectors tend to be IT - with software
development, e-business applications, hardware development and
multimedia dominating - and biotechnology
·most have a broad view of technology rather than trying to
focus on a very narrow technological niche
Colin Graham CEO of the Innovation Centre Sunshine Coast, winner
of the 2003 Regional Incubator of the Year, manages a highly
successful Technolgy Incubator. He can be contacted by email
at: cgraham@usc.edu.au
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