A study on the feasibility of incubator development in the faculty of Science for biotechnology industry in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The establishment and development of Biotechnology Incubators is the key for the high technologyindustries. As a developing country Sri Lanka has made efTorts to develop UniversityInteractionCells, with the aim of building partnerships with different institutions. However,developing a Biotech incubator in Sri Lanka with limited resources is a new approachand is a challenging task. Therefore the present study evaluates the feasibility of developingBiotechincubators in the Faculty of Science,Universityof Colombo. Eventhough thisstudy did not include any laboratory work, it involved extensive work on collection of informationthrough surveys ,communication ,analysis of information and recommendation for implementationof such incubator in the faculty of Science. This is the first ever study, especially in a Faculty of Science in the country. This study mainly focus on aspects such as the knowledge/awareness on incubators and Biotechnology among the 3 difTerent groups of the society tested both scientists and nonscientists.(Academics, Private sector industries, and Publicfrom three different provinces namely, Uva, Northern and Eastern) , the types of pat1nershipswith other institutes and personnel, The type of innovation/technologies which couldbe developed by companies in a Biotech incubator, possible sources of funding for a newlyemergingincubatorand potentials and constraintsfor developinga Biotech incubator at theUniversityof Colombo. Based on the inf()rmation provided by respondents, it is evident that the level of knowledge on incubators is limited in all groups surveyed during the study. Thus, it is essential to take necessary steps to educate and improve awareness on incubators and biotechnology among public a necessity prior to establishing a Biotech incubator. There was a positive response in all three societies tested towards building new Biotech incubator in the University of Colombo. Almost all public sector respondents is of the opinion that, this would be a greater oppol1unityfor them to improve their products and also most of them are interested in starting small scale industries/ businesses. In contrast, the most of the private sector respondents' opinion was there is no chance to become a tenant in a Biotech incubator. The main reason was due to lack knowledge on incubators and how they process. Furthermore it was stated thatfinancialsuppol1may not be possible for establishing incubators.They were not willing to takethe challengeor risk. Thus change of attitude is needed.