The government considers setting up of separate IT-support centres in all public universities aiming to create and grow young entrepreneurs.
The centre, called 'IT Business Incubator', will be provided with necessary supports including financial and technical services.
In this connection, the government has, in the meantime, adopted a Tk 100 million project at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) to build the country's first full software technology incubator having capacity of providing support to around 120 innovative entities at a time.
"We're building IT Business Incubator for the first time at CUET as a place of creative work, which will be a milestone in the field of information technology," secretary of the Ministry of Education Nazrul Islam Khan told the FE.
"Gradually we will set up incubators at all the public universities across the country to ensure same services to all the creative people," he added.
Replying to question from this correspondent, Mr Islam said, "Our study found that more than 70 per cent of the young entrepreneurs who start business after completion of their study cannot succeed for lack of experience. But establishment of the incubators would ensure the students to acquire practical knowledge on business and other matters during their study."
Mr Islam, however, said the ministry is in talk with the World Bank and other donor agencies for funding.
"If we fail to secure fund from the donors, then the government will implement the project with its own fund," he further informed.
"Incubators serve as a launching pad for young and small businesses. Start-ups, which are innately dynamic entities, need access to support, and incubators are a means of providing this."
Programme Director of 'CUET IT Business Incubator' Mir Md Saki Kowsar said: "Many students have creative ideas but for want of fund and other logistic supports they cannot go forward, but establishment of the incubators will help enable those to materialise their dream projects and thus it would help boost our financial strength and employment."
"We cannot measure innovation in money scale. If we can continue nurturing of the creative students, then another Microsoft or Google might be created in the country," he added.
According to Mr Kowsar, there are around 9,000 incubators across the globe, of which 70 are situated in India and 1,200 in China which paved a long way of success mostly in IT-based development of the countries in the last one decade. Â
"We have all the capability and possibilities; only initiative is a concern here," he informed.
However, a business incubator helps emerging companies survive and grow during the start-up period when they are most vulnerable.
The incubation provides SMEs and start-ups with the nurturing environment needed to develop and grow their businesses, offering everything from virtual support, rent-a-desk through to state-of-the-art laboratories and everything in between. All these are offered at below-market rates.
It provides direct access to hands on intensive business support, access to finance and experts and to other entrepreneurs and suppliers to really make businesses and entrepreneurs to grow.
Companies typically spend on an average two years in a business incubator, during which time they often share telephone, secretarial office, and production equipment expenses with other start-up companies, in an effort to reduce everyone's overhead and operational costs.
Besides, the goal of incubators is to increase the chance that a start-up will succeed, and shorten the time and reduce the cost of establishing and growing its business.
If successful, business incubators can help to nurture the companies that will form the true creators of a region's or nation's future wealth and employment.
badrulahsan71@gmail.com
Â