Science and Technology Parks and the Transformation towards Knowledge Economy ‘The City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications’ in Burj Al Arab ‘

The research aims at revealing the cognitive aspects of ‘The City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications’ that would prepare it for the change towards knowledge economy. The research has depended on the descriptive approach, in-depth interview tools, ready-made data, reports and official statistics.
 The research has found out that ‘The City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications’ represents a model of science and technology parks in Egypt; it is a park that aims at developing centers of scientific excellence to provide consulting services and solve the problems of the industrial society. The park also aims at implementing applied projects in a number of areas developed to serve the national economy. The park is characterized by the presence of some cognitive components that help in the change towards knowledge economy. One of these components is the existence of an investment zone that serves as an intermediary to invest in knowledge. Another is the establishment of technological incubators as a mechanism for the generation of creative companies. However, these two components are still at the beginning and have not yet shown their impact. It is also characterized by a knowledge base and a creative capital whose effect is reflected on the national level. The research also shows some of the challenges facing the city's integration into knowledge economy. The most important of these challenges are the incompletion of the entire infrastructure of the investment zone, and the fact that the technological incubators are still preparing to start their first courses.
The research recommends the establishment of a special unit in the Scientific Research City for marketing and investing the outputs of scientific research. It also calls for the quick completion of the infrastructure of the investment zone to work in parallel with the technological incubators, and the completion of research institutes, especially the ‘Small Industries Development Center’ to be a house of scientific expertise that supports the technological incubators and the investment zone.