Autorami książki są wybitni specjaliści z zakresu innowacji i gospodarki wiedzy z OECD, Komisji Europejskiej, krajów wyszehradzkich oraz z Wielkiej Brytanii i Holandii.

The aim of the book was to review recent research results in the sphere of knowledge and innovation processes in Central and East European (CEE) economies, especially in Visegrad countries (namely: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland).
The volume covers large parts of the issues which are connected with the knowledge economy, as it what was called by OECD and the World Bank, namely with R&D, innovations, innovation policy, education (incl. human capital), foresight, e-business etc.

The key questions of the book were as follows:
do knowledge and innovation contribute to the development of CEE countries?
is the distance between (esp.) the V-4 countries and the EU growing or decreasing?
are knowledge and innovation priorities included in policy agenda in CEE as factors of further economic growth?
do industries and companies appreciate benefits from knowledge and innovation activities and draw more attention to them?


MAJOR FINDINGS of the book:

- Not only companies but also geography, institutions and policies determine growth and competitiveness. The new EU member states should develop and coordinate policies related to the knowledge economy.
- EU should play larger role in the coordination process, including also influence on regional policies, because the policy-makers in CEE countries often concentrate on short-, instead of long-term, problems.
- Knowledge and innovation priorities become more frequently included in policy agendas, also on a regional level; nevertheless, in a number of cases they are limited to slogans and the interests of sectoral or local lobbies often prevail.
- Policy-makers of CEE countries should concentrate more on creation of pro-innovative working environment and cluster-oriented culture, based on trust and exchange of knowledge and innovation, rather than on an increase of R&D expenditures only.
- There still lack sufficient measures of, e.g. knowledge economy or research policy improvement. Therefore, the studies on research systems (and foresight processes) should be intensified and the results included in development policies.