THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND INNOVATION IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The changes with which companies are faced at the beginning of this century are the result of the impact of a number of factors. The first one is globalization – a huge increase in trade and availability of new products and services, as well as dramatic increase in the mobility of foreign investments, people and international competition. The next factor is the influence of contemporary communicational technologies. Fast changes of all types of technology enable fast access to numerous ways of communication, at low cost, which leads to the market opening for the consumers all over the world. These two factors have had an influence on a power change on the market, from the producer to the consumer or the final user. In contemporary global environment the economy of every individual country depends on the consequences of technological development and the implementation of innovations.