Establishment of business incubation centers in universities: a step towards innovative business in health system

ABSTRACT: Much needed services & resources for the progression of a business are presented by Business Incubation Centers (BIC) for beginner incubates. A successful business incubate would contribute positively in the region by forming original technologies and reducing unemployment(1, 2). The set up of Business Incubation Centers (BICs) is supported by Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan which offers related services for young incubates, contributing to successful and freestanding companies in the country(3). The objectives is to encourage self-employment among the young, commercializing research originating from universities(4), creating alliance between Industry and Academia, & contributing to economic growth by employing & forming viable firms(2). HEC has established thirty business incubation centers in public sector universities of major cities in Pakistan. Among the thirty universities, BICs have been set up in two universities related to medicine and allied health sciences namely Khyber Medical University Peshawar and Dow University of Health Sciences Karachi. The focus of this paper is to highlight this under studied area and center of attention are the startup incubates from health industry. Many ground-breaking inventive projects enlisted on HEC’s website are available for commercialization of research, all originating from engineering and technology, none of which stems from medical universities. Although integrating medicine with technology would positively impact the society many fold yet it appears to be a ground unfamiliar by medical faculty(5) Assessing comments of medical faculty confirms their estrangement regarding BIC(2). There is a lack of knowledge among the faculty concerning BIC; much work has to be done in encouraging medical faculty which will result in positive contributions. Informal surveys and observations that we conducted further illustrate the aforementioned point and confirm inadequate knowledge of faculty and students regarding BICs, their objectives and purpose of formation. BIC in health industry appear to be a foreign ground passing unnoticed by faculty today. One can find many startups emerging in the field of health worldwide from internet sources.(6) In Pakistan many innovative business projects originating from the fields of IT, environmental sciences, agriculture, engineering technology etc have been registered by HEC and are ready for commercialization. Khyber Medical University Business Incubation Center KUBIC is providing an effective platform interconnecting commercial industries and investors inviting multiple incubates across the province to bring forth innovative ideas in the field of health. The future of business incubation appears bright as there are rich opportunities of research today despite the challenges they face as analyzed by past three decades of emerging practice. 5