THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARKS (STPS) ON REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS: SUGGESTIONS FOR TURKISH AEROSPACE AND DEFENSE (A&D) INDUSTRY

Many countries have established science and technology parks (STPs) as part of a strategy to develop engines of growth and competitiveness since for a long time. For example, the United Kingdom and France benefited tremendously from the industrial revolution in the 19th century, and the United States emerged from an agrarian economy into an industrial superpower in the 20th century. Taiwan and South Korea became industrialized countries by exploiting advances in silicon microelectronics from the early 1960s. Most recently, China and India have emerged as industrial leaders in manufacturing and information technologies, respectively. All of these countries invested quite heavily in people and innovations1 and their success were based on carefully designed plans and strategies. Unfortunately, in many, if not all, of the developing countries, technology is being viewed as a consumable item, not something that can be produced or created. Technology is the primary engine of the economic growth and provides the key to unlocking any region's potential. Hence, countries that want to develop must invest significantly in science and technology. This is achieved by developing the talent, the human capacity required to compete in a globally competitive world. In this point, since the world has evolved as a global village, STPs have become crucially important for sustaining regional development and gaining competitive advantage irrespective of country and sub-sector of any industry. Thus, it is an important approach to depend on STPs' model and their resources to realize regional competitiveness to enhance national development. The purpose of this paper is to do research on STPs that are most conducive to maximising the positive effects of the implementation of new industrial policy to regional development and competitiveness by regarding aerospace and defense (A&D) industry. In order to realize this aim, a comprehensive study has been done during research. Along with wide range of literature review, two different data collection techniques (focus groups and in-depth interviews) were also conducted to accomplish research. Descriptive technique was used for analysing the research. According to the research results, an STP play a major role for regional development, has a significant impact on research and development capability as well as innovation ability, thereof foster any industry. After analysing the research a conceptual model was also suggested for regional development by considering STPs via A&D industry's indigenous structure.