Implementation of a Network Based Innovation Policy in Central and Eastern European Countries — Slovenia as an Example

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 1990s, most Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) have achieved considerable success in the transformation to an open and innovation-oriented market economy. Nevertheless, the transition period is not over. As governments are still under the threatening trade-off between stabilisation policy and structural transition, salient issues of the new economic order such as privatisation, reform of the social security system and deregulation are not pursued consistently. Furthermore, there is the need for a long-term strategy for technological development and economic growth. In this situation many initiatives of international co-operation aim at supporting these countries through Western expertise. One example is the bilateral techno-scientific co-operation between Germany and CEECs (Abel 1999).