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Abstract

Analyzing economic development potential and activities in a region requires identifying factors essential for a successful strategy and analyzing the locale in terms of its resources and relative position within a broader economic environment. In order to examine Krakow’s opportunities and steps already taken, it is necessary to analyze the region’s strengths and weaknesses and relate the findings to academic theories on high technology’s role in economic development and then evaluate the results in the context of Poland.The Krakow Region, located in southern Poland, prides itself as a dynamically developing center of advanced technologies and unmatched business climate. High technology, or high-tech economic development, has been incorporated into regional plans and strategies as most promising component of the region’s development. Hence, this paper’s intention is to look at the process of economic development based on high technology and compare the theoretic findings with the reality and practice of the Region of Krakow. The analysis presented in this paper identifies the region’s strengths and weaknesses. It is found that despite the academic potential and multiple efforts to stimulate economic development based on advanced technologies, Krakow faces considerable challenges. These are the leadership of Warsaw, weak relationships between business and science and, consequently, insufficient application of research outcomes to economic practice. Recommendations to overcome these threats and weaknesses are presented in the final section.

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