Innovation Hubs

Throughout our global travels, we’ve learned that the words, “incubator” and “accelerator” are somewhat used, but new terms are emerging, such as Innovation Hubs, and Innovation Centers. What’s fascinating is that many of these words were used back in the 80s and 90s, along with terms such as Innovation District, Business Park, and Technology Park.

The Economic Development world — specifically in entrepreneurship and small/medium sized businesses, continue to find ways to ignite the terminology to engage new entrepreneurs in moving to their cities and or areas. While these things are important and relevant, what makes someone move or make an impact is not the name, but the substance that comes with these organizations, and the support services provided.

There must be strong programs, strong teams, and staff that can understand and know how to work with entrepreneurs. They must understand the ecosystem entrepreneurs need for support, and all the resources that could be available. They must know when to advise, and which resource will be the best.

These things don’t happen overnight, and one person cannot do it all. Globally, most of these things happen through a team approach, because entrepreneurs need more than a single person to support them. It takes almost a village!

BEFORE YOU GO:

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

Beyond the names you are considering for your park, hub, incubator, accelerator program, or any other services you are planning to provide, think about:

1. Who are the players you will invite to be in this space?

2. What connections can be made utilizing and leveraging existing resources in the community?

3. What other tools have you used to make this work?

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Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.