Incubators and Universities: how to overcome cultural barriers against innovation

Incubators have recorded a profile of success worldwide. The factor that hampers their success in developing countries involves cultural barriers. This paper will explore this aspect of the problem to develop and promote a culture of innovation. A reform in the educational system coupled with a pre-incubation program will foster a new outlook among the job-seeking university graduates. Incubators remain the major source of innovation and entrepreneurship while universities offer relevant short courses. The twin program, university courses and practical trainings by incubators, will be the solution investigated in this paper. Qadir Incubator's experience in developing this new pre-incubation program will be reviewed.