The knowledge-based society: integration- and synthesis- oriented strategies for the European Union

Abstract

Possibilities for the development of new forms of economic, social and technological headway designed to create and further improve economies based on knowledge are analyzed here. The main emphasis is put on national and regional economic specialization and creation of new networks of clusters in the situation of the development of the European Union. We have found tliat clusterization oriented towards the increase of efficiency of various national and regional economies is a critical precondition for successful creation of modern economy based on knowledge, both in the whole space of the European Union and particular countries. Another idea - a concept of creation of regional and cross-regional clusters and their networks also known as „economic oazes" - is suggested here. It is explained in the paper that in the economies based on knowledge development of clusters and their networks will soon become one of the core forms of economic and technological advancement. Further on, the variety of clusters and their networks is defined, and the idea of clusterization generally oriented towards creation and promotion of high technologies is given. In addition, some typical factors of the economic and social development of the European Union are being described here, and it is subsequently proved that these factors reflect on the common context of creation of the knowledge based economies. Undersdtanding of these factors allows us to consequently implement strategies of two types that could create the economies based on knowledge: first, these are the strategies oriented towards integration of the processes of economic and social development, along with the strategies oriented towards the syntesis of the results of the economic endeavours and technology advancement of different origins.