Technology incubators are a specific type of business incubator - a property-based venture which provides
tangible and intangible services to new technology-based firms, entrepreneurs, and spin-offs of
universities and large firms, all with the aim of helping them increase their chances of survival and
generate wealth and jobs and diffuse technology. The large majority of technology incubators are
affiliated with public and private sources of research knowledge, such as universities, science and
technology parks, or clusters of firms with R&D capacity. Public support for business and technology
incubators is generally provided at the local and regional levels of government, but central governments
play a role both directly and indirectly. The justification for government support lies in market and
systemic failures that limit the ability of small technology-based firms to survive and of entrepreneurs to
overcome the uncertainty and obstacles associated with the early stages of firm creation. Despite lack of
comprehensive research on the costs and benefits of technology incubators, this document identifies
several “good practices” at the overall policy level and that of technology incubator programmes.