Chapter Five. Knowledge-based economy

The emergence of the knowledge-based economy has seen the importance of information, and research and development (RpD) as the source of wealth creation in society. Firms working in the knowledge-based economies (KBEs) derive their competitiveness from firm specific competence that has been developed through a combination of tangible and intangible resources. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Indian computer industry limped along because of its self-imposed isolation after removing International Business Machines (IBM) or Big Blue from the local market. While Singapore managed to build the Bangalore Information Technology (IT) Park, the complementarity with the Indian economy in terms of India's large human resource base was justified with the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) phenomenon. The rise of India as a Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) hub is further evident as hundreds applied for positions with MNCs like Microsoft and Juniper Networks Inc for job openings in India.Keywords: Bangalore; Business Process Outsourcing (BPO); Information Technology (IT); International Business Machines (IBM); Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO); knowledge-based economies (KBEs); Singapore