Only a society 
that invests in research and development (R&D) is capable of keeping up with a rapidly changing world. Flanders is ready to rise to this challenge. The R&D intensity which calculates the percentage of gross domestic income which a region spends on R&D shows that Flanders is ranked just under the European top three. The newly-developed products and services on average make up a quarter of the total turnover of Flemish enterprises. Micro-electronics, biotechnology and communication technology are some of Flanders' spearheads.
Companies work closely together with the Flemish knowledge centres. Entrepreneurs can use the services of a knowledge centre to solve a specific technical programme, to provide guidance for technological innovation or to test products.
Within the Flemish knowledge centres we distinguish strategic research centres and competence centres. Strategic research centres carry out demand-driven basic research with a view to economic or social potential which can be realised in the near future. These are partnerships with an international scope and a fixed infrastructure. Competence centres bridge the gap between economy and technological innovation. These organisations were developed bottom-up and bundle forces from different sectors, usually in the form of private-public cooperation.