Abstract:
Hi-Tech or Software Technology parks are being developed in many countries to create an efficient work environment for knowledge based industrial development. Major aim of these technology parks are to attract foreign companies to set up operations and to transfer the indigenous technological capability for the development of the local industries. The aim of this thesis work is to find out factors that influence technology park development and a suitable strategic framework for successful implementation of Hi-Tech (HTP) or Software Technology Park (STP) in Bangladesh.
A review of the existing technology parks in different countries such as India, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, USA etc. and ongoing and finished technology park projects in Bangladesh is carried out through site visit and Internet. However, different parks have different features in respect of development priorities, management, operations and marketing strategies. Knowledge based industry mainly related to information technology and R&D have been considered as top priority sector for Bangladesh.
For this study Analytic Hierarchy Process is applied as a Multi-criteria Decision-Making Method (MCDM) which is a technology assessment tool. The assessment has been conducted by considering infrastructure, strategic & business support & governance as criteria. Under these criteria basic facility, digital facility, social facility, research & strategic facility, industrial chain & innovation facility, capacity development, policy support, operational modality and park management as sub criteria. SWOT analysis and IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software also used for identifying the key variables. Again, relevance tree technique is used to represent tasks, approaches, criteria, sub criteria and variables as per the importance identified. Based on the relevance tree scenario it is found that, quality infrastructure carries slightly higher importance than other criteria but research and strategic facility within the technology park carries more importance than any other criteria. At the end operational modality-based process is suggested for HTP or STP development.
