The business incubation environment is the conducible wider context to a nurturing sustainable growth potential and development of enterprises.

 Business incubation is a public and/or private, entrepreneurial, economic and social development process designed to nurture business ideas and start-up companies. The process includes a comprehensive business support program, to help beneficiaries establish and accelerate their growth and success.

  A Business Incubator (Business & Innovation Center) is a physical facility aims at promoting economic development of its community by supporting start-up companies and their business development. These centers provide the following basic services:

• Start-up consulting and business planning.
• Consulting in business development (legal, marketing etc.).
• Consulting for and/or access to financing.
• Shared office services;
• Office and / or workshop/laboratory rooms for lease on flexible terms.
• Training. 

 Business Incubator: “An organization designed to accelerate the growth and success of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services that could include physical space, capital, coaching, common services, and networking connections".

Author: Entrepreneur.com

 Innovation is understood as comprising the renewal and enlargement of a range of products and services and their associated markets; the establishment of new methods of design, production, supply and distribution; the introduction of change in management, work organization, and working conditions and skills of the workforce. It covers technological, non-technological and organizational innovation, market replication of existing technologies that are to be utilized in a new and innovative way.

According to the Official Journal of the European Union (9/11/2006, L 310/16)

About Science and Technology Parks

 University Research Park:
"A property-based venture which has:

• Existing or planned land and buildings designed primarily for private and public research and development facilities, high technology and science based companies, and support services.
• A contractual and/or formal ownership or operational relationship with one or more universities or other institutions of higher education, and science research.
• A role in promoting research and development by the university in partnership with industry, assisting in the growth of new ventures, and promoting economic development.
• A role in aiding the transfer of technology and business skills between the university and industry tenants."

Author: AURP

 Science Park: “A Science Park is an organization managed by specialized professionals, whose main aim is to increase the wealth of its community by promoting the culture of innovation and the competitiveness of its associated businesses and knowledge-based institutions. To enable these goals to be met, a Science Park stimulates and manages the flow of knowledge and technology amongst universities, R&D institutions, companies and markets; it facilitates the creation and growth of innovation-based companies through incubation and spin-off processes; and provides other value-added services together with high quality space and facilities."

Author: IASP, (IASP International Board, 6 February 2002).

 Business Angels: “Private investors also called informal investors, who invest in unquoted small and medium sized businesses. They are often businessmen and women who have sold their business, and provide not only finance but also their experience and their business skills to the entrepreneurs with whom they are in contact".

Author: Eur. Business Angels Network.

 Industrial Cluster: "Clusters are networks of interdependent firms, knowledge-producing institutions (universities, research institutes, and technology-providing firms), bridging institutions (e.g. providers of technical or consultancy services) and customers, linked in a production chain which creates added value. The concept of cluster goes beyond that of firm networking, as it captures all forms of knowledge sharing and exchange."

Author: OECD
OECD (Managing National Innovation Systems. 1999)

 Small & Medium Enterprises (SME’s):
There is no official or universally accepted definition of an SME. The definitions used vary widely among countries, but they are most often based on employment. In general, an SME is considered to have fewer than 500 employees, although many countries use a lower cut-off, say 300 or 100 employees. Some countries differentiate between manufacturing and services SMEs; in this case, services SMEs are usually defined as smaller than manufacturing SMEs.

Some countries distinguish between autonomous SMEs and those that are connected to a larger enterprise or group, or identify an SME in terms of management structure (personal involvement of the owner or family-owned, for example).

Finally, statistical definitions of SMEs often differ from those used for policy implementation purposes; for example, although a firm with 600 employees may not be regarded as an SME for statistical purposes, it may still be able to gain access to public support programmes designed for SMEs.

The main feature of an SME is that it is "not large", in the sense that an SME is not in the core of the largest 10 or 20 per cent of firms in that market or industry. This leads to a rough convention for categorizing SMEs:

• Micro: 1 - 4 employees.
• Very small: 5 - 19 employees.
• Small: 20 - 99 employees. and
• Medium: 100 - 500 employees.

Author: OECD

An industrial SME’s definition is based on employment & paid in capital, which leads to a rough convention for categorizing Jordanian industrial SME’s into: