Critical Success Factors of Technology Parks in Australia

Given the potential importance of technology parks, their complexity in terms of the scope of required investment and the growing interest of governments to use them as tools for creating sustainable development there is a pressing need for a better understanding of the critical success factors of these entities. However, Briggs and watt (2001) argued that the goal of many technology parks and the factors driving innovation success are still a mystery. It is also argued that the problem with analyzing technology parks is that recent studies analyze “the most celebrated case studies... to ‘explain’ their success”. This study uses intensive interviewing to explore critical success factors of technology parks. The study identified the following factors: a culture of risk-taking “entrepreneurism”, an autonomous park management, an enabling environment, a critical mass of companies, the presence of internationally renowned innovative companies, and finally a shared vision among the technology park stakeholders.