Essential to the creation and development of innovative, high-technology, knowledge-driven organizations is a tight symbiosis between regional culture and infrastructure. Although this symbiosis is often recognized anecdotally, there is virtually no systematic research testing whether regional cultures are a driving factor in the creation of successful technology ventures. In this paper, the authors compare four geographic regions using a diagnostic research tool specifically developed for profiling knowledge management practices in high-technology firms. As an outcome of their previous research, the authors have been able to identify those key practices that distinguish firms that we characterize as "leading-edge". In an analysis of high-technology centers around the globe, WIRED magazine rated 46 regions from 1 (low) to 4 (high) on each of four factors [8]: (1) the ability of area universities and research facilities to develop new technologies and to provide skilled knowledge professionals (2) the presence of established companies and multinationals to provide expertise and economic stability (3) the population's entrepreneurial drive to start new ventures and (4) the availability of venture capital to ensure that ideas make it to market Of the four regions included in this study, two -
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