CASE STUDIES

BUSINESS INCUBATION TRAINING PROGRAM

infoDev, World Bank

Industry: Innovation ecosystems, business incubators, technology parks

Period covered: 2010 - 2013

Published: 2013

Organization: World Bank

The Business Incubation Management Training Program was designed in direct response to repeated requests from infoDev’s innovation and entrepreneurship community for an in-depth business incubation training program relevant to the developing country context.

This training program is the first-of-its-kind, drawing from the lessons, models, and examples in business incubation from across Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, Middle East & North Africa, and South Asia. More than 30 business incubator experts around the world contributed directly to the writing of the training modules, and the materials were tested with more than 300 professionals in emerging and developing countries, all of whom provided inputs to the final design. By 2013, more than 900 business incubator managers and stakeholders have been trained, with good results and a persistent demand for more training opportunities.

As staff trainer and part of the infoDev team, my role was to be part of the training program development team as well as to deliver training of trainers (ToT). I also participated in testing and delivering the training in a number of countries, including Brazil, India, Romania, South Africa and Turkey.

infoDev is a World Bank Group program that supports high-growth entrepreneurs in developing economies. The program is part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit of the World Bank Group's Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice.