university–enterprise cooperation

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the European Research Area) and INDICOM
(Direct indicators for commercialization of
research and technology) that are examining
issues concerning technology transfer from
academia and establishment of academic
spin-offs.
The role of the Technology Transfer Center
(Figure 3) will be:
• To establish a database of universities
research results;
• To serve close research-industry contacts;
• To manage interdisciplinary forums and
networks;
• To deal with patents and intellectual
property rights;
• To promote the commercialization of
research results.
It proposes innovation projects and sends
the proponents of a well rounded idea directly
to incubation centers.
This Center will also be aimed at attracting
top-class experienced researchers who left
the countries from Western Balkan region
and to contribute brain-gain phenomenon,
which is one of the priority in FP7 REGPOT
projects of European Union.
6.3.1.2 Incubation Center
The process of nurturing business startup
and growth has, for many years, been
appropriately called “incubation”. The
purpose of an incubation center is to provide
all the resources that the entrepreneurs need
to build successful businesses. A successful
incubator must make major achievements
in business start-up and growth, expansion
of existing businesses and institutions, and
the attraction of established firms and their
various facilities from outside the country.
We suggest establishment incubation centers
or incubators (depicted in Figure 3) and
developing its services in the following major
areas:
• Networking opportunities that will encourage
entrepreneurs to interact with other
companies inside and outside the incubator
for creating business opportunities for
high technology companies from the
region and from other partner universities;
• On-site staff and consultant management
assistance in budgeting and cost control,
personnel management, purchasing and
marketing;
• Bringing technologies developed at WBC
universities closer to commercialization;
• Knowledge in applications to regional,
state and European development funds;
• Experience in obtaining financing for
equipment and operations and linkages
to seed and start-up venture funds for
the incubated companies as well as from
development funds.
The Incubator supports new start-up companies
in the first phase of its existence. The support
is offered under flexible conditions, and after
about 3-5 years the newly created company
is stimulated to leave the incubator since it
is considered to be capable of independent
existence. Most of the STPs have an incubator
within themselves.
The university is a natural incubator, providing
a support structure for teachers and students, to
initiate new ventures of all kinds, intellectual,
commercial and conjoint. The university is also
a potential seedbed for new interdisciplinary
scientific fields and new industrial sectors, each
cross-fertilizing the other. Start-up companies
often need periodic use of specialized equipment,
which they cannot afford to purchase on their
own. Incubators typically provide the most
commonly used equipment and assist the tenants
in gaining use of other equipment resident in
research institutions and companies in the area.
This shared use of equipment will give the
incubator a strong position for the future success
of its companies.
Furthermore, most entrepreneurs have little
management training or experience in budgeting
and cost control, personnel policies, recruiting
and management, purchasing, and marketing.
The incubator staff will have the primary function
of providing general management assistance
to the companies in the incubator. Effective
incubators should run a series of large and small
seminars where service providers in the region
share common problems and solutions with the