Expansion and Evolution of Incubation Programs and Entrepreneurship Development In Incubators In The State of Goiás, Brazil

The objectives of the present study were to investigate the current ecosystem of innovative entrepreneurship in the state of Goiás, Brazil, and provide an overview of its incubators, identifying connections and interactions between these mechanisms and the different agents involved in the perspective of the Triple Helix, to verify the support of business incubators as an element that promotes entrepreneurship in the regional entrepreneurship development process. The used methodology was based on empirical research, with a qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory nature, with the description of the panorama of business incubators in Goiás through a cross-sectional study of ten incubators associated with the Innovation Network of Goiás (Rede Goiana de Inovação or RGI). The results enabled to map the ecosystem of innovative entrepreneurship and obtain an overview of the incubation process in Goiás, contributing to the study and identification of the participation of incubators in the process of entrepreneurship development and as a guide to develop institutional policies and actions to strengthen connections in the existing ecosystem, capable to foster and boost the performance of incubators in favor of local and regional development