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About Knowledge Economy

Peter Drucker:

Drucker said that at the heart of the Information Revolution is not the computer, which at best is a tool to routines information processes; nor is it software, which is nothing but "the reorganization of traditional work, based on centuries of experience, through the application of knowledge and especially of systematic, logical analysis."

    India And The Knowledge Economy

Recently, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced the establishment of a National Knowledge Commission, "on matters relating to institutions of knowledge production, knowledge use and knowledge dissemination."

Think global
Companies must realize they are competing in a global knowledge economy, and that thinking locally is not the basis for long-term success and innovation. 'When we in the UK talk about the knowledge economy, we talk about it as if we owned it. It isn't ours. It's the global economy,' says Business Growth Forum's David Jefferson. 'What we need to see is more innovation in our exploitation of technology on a global basis, and to understand how small businesses get global.'

*      What is knowledge economy?

*      What this site does

*      Who is it for?

*      How you can participate

*      Editorial Framework

*      What we aspire to

 

What is knowledge economy?

We are in the midst of what could be called a ‘knowledge revolution’ that is being spearheaded by rapid advances in the science base across a wide range of areas from information and communication technologies (ICTs), to biotechnology, to the engineering of new materials.

The rapid development and spread of knowledge facilitated by technical progress is creating a more competitive and interdependent world. The knowledge revolution provides great potential for countries to strengthen their economic and social development by providing more efficient ways of producing goods and services and delivering them more effectively and at lower costs to a greater number of people.

However, it also raises the danger of a growing ‘knowledge divide’ (rather than just a ‘digital divide’) between advanced countries, who are generating most of this knowledge and developing countries. The latter have comparatively less developed markets, institutions, telecommunications infrastructures or educated people to create, adapt, and make effective use of the rapidly growing stock of knowledge, and therefore have to develop explicit strategies to overcome some of these constraints.

 

*      What this site does

This site is designed to raise the issues related to developing countries’ transition to the knowledge based economy.

Knowledge Economy on the Development Gateway invites you to share your own experiences with others by sharing web-sites or files that you think are particularly valuable and participating in constructive, open debate on issues concerning the knowledge economy from a development perspective.

*      Who is it for?

All who share our professional or educational interest in the knowledge economy are welcome to join us, although the information is provided from the point of view of what policymakers and sector specialists (such as in education, information and communication technology, science) may find useful when involved in developing and implementing strategies for effective use, creation, dissemination and protection of knowledge. Our members are from more than 130 countries around the world and represent professionals from governments, donor agencies, private sector, academia and NGOs.

*      How you can participate

You are welcome to add content to our portal. Content that is unavailable or cannot be easily found on the web is particularly welcome –in English, Spanish and French. Apart from linking to existing web-pages, you can upload files in Word, PDF, Excel, PowerPoint and other formats to the Gateway.

Be sure that you are not infringing any copyright restrictions; if you are not the author or the publisher of a document you are adding, please obtain their permission before posting it on the Gateway.

We welcome you to add news and events as well. If you do so, please post related events to our events calendar and news to the news section. All other content can be added by clicking here.

Please see further editorial guidelines below.

*      Editorial Framework

Broadly speaking, the Knowledge Economy community is concerned with how developing countries and transition economies can leverage knowledge for economic development.

The following provides some further guidelines for the scope of coverage on the Knowledge Economy site (all contributions by members are vetted against these guidelines).

All material posted to the Knowledge Economy site should:

Be about developing countries or transition economies or it should be clearly indicated in the description why the content added is relevant to developing countries or transition economies;
be about how countries can leverage knowledge for economic development;
have clear policy implications (a common question is whether or not we cover knowledge management under the knowledge economy umbrella. In general, one can say that the knowledge economy defines the process whereby a country (the macro picture) takes knowledge and converts it into economic gain and welfare improvement, whereas knowledge management defines the tools, techniques and processes used by organizations and individuals (the micro picture) to achieve these things. The Knowledge Economy community is concerned with the macro picture.)

The following four pillar framework developed by Carl Dahlman and the Knowledge for Development Program at the World Bank Institute generally serves as the framework for content on the Knowledge Economy site:

Innovation Systems A system of research centers, universities, think tanks, consultants, firms and other organizations that can tap into growing stock of global knowledge, assimilate it and adapt it to local needs, and create new knowledge.

Education and Training Education is the fundamental enabler of the knowledge economy. Well educated and skilled people are key for creating, sharing, disseminating and using knowledge effectively. The knowledge economy requires an education system which is flexible —starting from basic education that provides the foundation for learning, to secondary and tertiary education that can develop core skills, including technical ones, that encourage creative and critical thinking critical for problem-solving and innovation, to a system of lifelong learning; a system which encompasses learning throughout the life cycle (from early childhood to retirement) and includes formal learning (schools, training institutions, universities); nonformal learning (on-the-job and household training), and informal learning (skills learned from family members or people in the community).

 Info rmation Infrastructure A dynamic information and communication infrastructure that facilitates the effective dissemination and processing of knowledge.

Economic and Institutional Incentive Regime The incentive regime describes the framework within which society and economy work, in other words the 'rules of the game' (both formal and informal). In the context of the knowledge economy, the key question is "does the economic incentive regime provide a context which encourages and stimulates the creation, sharing and application of knowledge." For example, does it ensure that access to financing is not an obstacle to innovation? Does it encourage the right level of education and training to support the economy's needs? Is there a sufficient rule of law and appropriate intellectual property rights to ensure that innovation is not stifled?