1 A. J. Kukuła, Knowledge-based economy as an economic development strategy for the twenty-first century, [in:] New Strategies for the New Century. The limits and possibilities of regional and global integration, edited by M. Chorośnicki, J. Węc, A. Czubik, A. żłogowski, I. KrzyĪanowska-Skowronek, A. Nitszke, E. Szczepankiewicz-Rudzka, M. Tarnawski, Kraków: Kontekst Press 2013, page 563-574. Artur Jan Kukuła, Ph.D. Institute of Political Science and International Affairs The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Artur Jan Kukuła, Ph.D. The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Knowledge-based economy as a economic development strategy of twenty-first century The spread of a new type of the knowledge-based economy is one of the most momentous changes that we can observe in the contemporary world. It is a process of gradual transition from material-consuming economy to economy based on information and knowledge. As a result of this, the hitherto competition among countries and regions through material resources is replaced by competing through non-material resources, especially through knowledge connected with the latest achievements of modern science. Therefore, the chances of development of countries and regions in the world today are increasingly determined by human intellectual potential, science and the sphere of research and development which provides innovative solutions, “driving” the new type of economy. The transformation of hitherto material-consuming economy into the “new economy” based on knowledge becomes in the twenty-first century the main challenge for countries and regions, the aim of which is to achieve a high level of socio-economic development and competitiveness. The term “new economy”, used to describe the phenomenon of the indicated transformations, is equivocal and essentially connected with the area of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) and takes us to the American land of the second half of the 1990’s. That decade ended a particularly long and favorable for American economy and society period of economic boom lasting over ten years (including low inflation and