Incubation Manager elected to Chair new body for incubator community

The South African incubator community recently elected Jill Sawers, Incubation Manager at The Innovation Hub, to Chair its newly launched national body, the South African Business and Technology Incubation Association (SABTIA). Its purpose is to serve as an umbrella body for incubators throughout the country.

Members of SABTIA Executive Committee from left: Chairperson Jill Sawers of The Innovation Hub, Ben Zaaiman from SoftStart, Philip Marais of Upstarts Innovation Incubator, Michael Reddy from Furntech, Allon Raiz of Raizcorp and Dr Peter Breitenbach from Acorn Technologies.

According to Jill, SABTIA's role will be to encourage collaboration, sharing and best practice between all types of business incubators in the country. The current SABTIA members include incubators across a range of disciplines, inter alia electronics, software, furniture, biotechnology, medical devices, stainless steel, chemical products, aluminium and horticulture.

"We expect that there will be generic issues which affect most incubators, while specific issues which will affect certain categories of incubators. SABTIA will provide a forum for the various incubators to share their challenges and identify champions to take these challenges to a final resolution," she said.

SABTIA will serve as an umbrella body for incubators throughout the country. The aim is to cater for the needs of the incubator community, including forming a national body, which can lobby on behalf of its members; create a forum where knowledge affecting the incubation industry can be shared; promote best practice in business incubation; and provide a South African entry point for international business incubation associations.

The SABTIA structure was inspired by that of similar existing associations, such as the United Kingdom Business Incubation Association and the National Business Incubation Association in the US. Continual linkage with these organisations can only reinforce the impact and influence of SABTIA, while relationships with foreign incubators often result in assistance being given to South African incubator tenants who wish to expand abroad, by providing necessary supportive infrastructure and local knowledge.

"A major objective will be to raise the profile of the incubation industry in South Africa in terms of the value it is providing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Obtaining buy-in, understanding and an appreciation by the policy makers will be critical. Managing the expectations of incubation being a long-term strategy for accelerating the development of SMEs rather than a quick win will be an important message to convey to the policy makers", she added.

Contact Jill Sawers for more information on SABTIA.

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