Best practices of business incubators in developed and developing countries: the roadmap for the Arab countries

Business incubators are viewed by many countries’ governments as dynamic tools for fostering new ventures regarding economic development, job creation and as vital components of an entrepreneurial infrastructure. While there are over 7000 business incubators worldwide, only 21 are in existence in the Middle East. This book argues that business incubators must be adapted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to support diversifying their economies, the commercialization of new technologies, job creation and wealth building. The book describe and compare key indicators of incubation best practices worldwide to identify the strengths and weaknesses of business incubators models around the world. In doing so this investigation uses successful international case studies based on models in developed and developing countries. The data was mainly collected by survey, semi-structured interviews and organizational documents from each case study. The book provides a roadmap for the development of new economies based on technology, as well as value added in technology transfer, innovation development, and an entrepreneurial climate.