PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR STRENGTHENING UNIVERSITY INCUBATORS: GUIDELINES APPLIED TO ITEC.IN WITHIN THE INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM OF SOUTHERN SANTA CATARINA

Abstract

This article examines how project management practices can support the strengthening of university business incubators, using the Technology Incubator for Ideas and Businesses at the University of the Extreme South of Santa Catarina (ITEC.in) as an applied context. The study stems from an institutional project supported by the Santa Catarina Research and Innovation Foundation. A qualitative, applied, exploratory and descriptive approach was adopted through bibliographic and documentary research. The institutional project, the scholarship holder's work plan, the CERNE model, project management standards and recent studies on incubation and innovation ecosystems were examined. The analysis indicates that modernization depends on the integration of governance, processes, competencies, venture support services, ecosystem relationships and performance measurement. Six guidelines are proposed: benefits-oriented governance; process diagnosis and standardization;  integrated  portfolio  management;  competency  development; systematic stakeholder engagement; and multidimensional monitoring. Project management, when adapted to the relational and evolutionary nature of incubation, can turn dispersed actions into a traceable path of institutional strengthening, organizational learning and regional impact.