Spin offs in the Ljubljana region

Modern societies have shown the positive contribution of spin-off companies in the socio-economic sphere. There are a number of conditions and circumstances under which it may be of value to encourage spin-offs. Policy-makers may therefore be interested in promoting and developing certain types of spin-off given their potential benefits, particularly in the area of competitiveness, innovation, growth, transfer of research achievements to the market and the internationalization of regional content. The Ljubljana Technology Park is a pioneer in this field in Slovenia. This article draws on experience from Ljubljana Technology Park, Slovenia, where research spin-offs were develop despite the relative low support from the local authorities and low involvement of Ljubljana University. The reason for studying the spin-off phenomenon was to identify a way to stimulate innovation and research spin-off creation the Ljubljana region. In the proposed paper the spin-off characteristics, strengths and weaknesses are analyzed. The comparison between the EU environments and the Ljubljanas achievements is made. The specific Slovenias (maybe east Europe) types of academic spin-off are described and the Ljubljanas procedure, activities and plans are presented.