Arab Knowledge Report 2009

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PREAMBLEIntroductionThe Arab Knowledge Report 2009 examinesthe current state of Arab knowledge. Itderives its legitimacy from the pressing needfor information about knowledge performancein the region at a time when the importanceof knowledge for the realisation of the manynew prospects it has opened up for all areas ofsociety is increasing.An analytical approach to the evolutionof knowledge and the knowledge revolutionwitnessed by the world at the end of the lastand the beginning of this century is new tothe agendas of the relevant national andinternational research institutions. Chief amongthe numerous reasons for the current Arabinterest in the subject is the desire not to missout on the anticipated effects of the knowledgerevolution and to be alert to the roles it playsin generating progress, whether on the political,economic, or social level.Today’s knowledge revolution and the differentmaterial and symbolic effects it has generatedhave opened up new possibilities to develophuman livelihoods and strengthen the effortsto increase forms of knowledge that contributetowards the achievement of human welfare.This report on knowledge in the Arabregion is one of a series whose object isto open up a diversity of avenues by whichto approach the status of knowledge andspeculate on the means and requirementsfor a renaissance in the Arab nation.Because the project is a large one, this firstreport offers a general introduction to thestate of the Arab knowledge society andits components. It also attempts to sketchthe major features of a vision of howsome aspects of the knowledge gap in theArab world may be overcome. Subsequentreports will cast further light, from otherperspectives and analytical approaches, onthe state of Arab knowledge with the aimof developing knowledge performanceand so bringing about the realisation ofthe knowledge society in the Arab region.The Report starts with the view thatthe literature of research into knowledgeand its various trajectories is in its infancy.The approach thus targets two poles.The first is theoretical and provides theconceptual and philosophical foundationsupon which the Report depends. Thesecond concerns itself with some of theformative components of the differentdomains of knowledge in the Arab reality,thus permitting diagnosis and measurementof the size of the existing knowledgegaps. This preamble will summarise themajor sections of the Report, namely, thepreliminaries to the Report, the dialecticalissues, and the topics of the Report.Before considering the arrangement ofthe Report’s content, we should point outthat the task alternates between consideringinnovations associated with the knowledgesociety in countries that have alreadyentered the latter’s portals, and the state ofknowledge in the Arab countries, with allits gaps and deficits. In all its chapters, theaim of the Report is to produce a diagnosisthat reveals the status of Arab knowledge.At the same time, it attempts to sketch ingeneral terms aspects of the triumphs andgains of knowledge and the horizons it hasopened up for human societies. Given thedearth of data and absence of regional andnational monitoring bodies issuing reliableinformation and statistics, the Report hasscrutinised the data from internationalorganisations and in so doing has generatedChief among thereasons for thecurrent Arab interestin establishing theknowledge societyis the desire notto miss out on theanticipated effectsof the knowledgerevolution andto be alert to theroles it plays ingenerating progress,whether on thepolitical, economic,or social levelPREAMBLE1
The knowledgefield and revolutiontoday form anavenue for reformin the Arab worldKnowledge isfreedom, andas such a paththat requiresfurther honingof the creativemechanisms ofhuman intelligencean internal debate that aspires to build anddevelop Arab knowledge performance.The Report has been careful to makeuse of available data and to evaluate thegrowth of the nuclei of an Arab knowledgesociety. It has also been keen to come togrips with the major problems that afflictknowledge in our societies, whether inresearch, education, or the use of thenew technological mediums that underlietoday’s knowledge networks.Crucial to the Report is the idea thatthe local and particular should be taken asthe starting point for speculation about theuniversal and worldwide generalisation ofgains in knowledge. This concern is not theresult of any desire to deny the universalgains in knowledge but has been adoptedbecause it supports the indigenisationand reproduction of these gains. Thegoal is to achieve creative participation inthem and transcending the various aspectsof knowledge commoditisation andconsumption.Another dominating idea forms partof this Report: that the knowledge fieldand revolution today form an avenue forreform in the Arab world. Hence, theReport’s conception of knowledge hasbeen broadened to include the spirit ofknowledge, and thus its enlightenmentand development dimensions. In doingso, it seeks to transcend those views ofknowledge that emphasise technologicaland quantitative indicators, overlookingthe fact that knowledge is freedom, and assuch a path that requires further honingof the creative mechanisms of humanintelligence.PRELIMINARIES TO THEREPORTThe Report’s chapters are open-ended instructure and attempt to take stock ofexisting conditions. This supposes thatsubsequent reports will contemplatedefined questions, a specific knowledgeindex, or one of the issues of theknowledge performance improvement inthe Arab region.In the Name of God, the Merciful, theCompassionateRecite: In the name of thy Lord who created,created man of a blood-clot. Recite: And thyLord is Most Generous, who taught by the pen,taught Man that which he knew not.The Holy Qur’an, Surat al-‘Alaq (The Blood-clot)*Given the novelty of the subject and ofthe horizons it is unceasingly openingup in the various fields of knowledge,the Report seeks to work on two fronts: adescription of the state of knowledge in theArab world and a sketch of some aspirationsto overcome the flaws observed. TheReport thus combines the identificationof the faults in knowledge performancewith the formulation of defined proposals,which, when implemented, will help to fillsome of those gaps.The Report starts with the principle of the rightto knowledge, which it considers non-negotiable,especially in an Arab world most of which stillsuffers from knowledge and digital illiteracy.Knowledge is also perceived of as a tool and anoutcome of development. The Report links theright to knowledge and development to hopesfor renaissance and enlightenment. It takesinnovation to be the means to reinforce all thatmay aid humanity to overcome the obstaclesand constraints it faces. The linking of theseprinciples allows some of the Report’s chaptersto take on a composite character. Taken together,the Report’s chapters assume that the Arabhistorical regression in the domain of knowledgecan be overcome, when the ambition to do sois present, and when there is the political will toprovide the resources needed to build enablingenvironments and institutions capable of guidingknowledge evolution and transforming its gainsinto comprehensive human development.THE DIALECTICS OF THEREPORTThe Report discusses a number of arguments,combining description and observation,and highlighting contradictions andparadoxes. At the same time, it exercisescare in making judgements and adoptingpositions. The Report attempts to free itselffrom the purely economic perspective on2 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009
Page 1 and 2: United Nations Development Programm
Page 4 and 5: Foreword by the Chairman of the Boa
Page 6 and 7: Foreword by the Regional Director,U
Page 8 and 9: Report Team(Alphabetically)Advisory
Page 10 and 11: The knowledge society and the legit
Page 12 and 13: Partnership with the private sector
Page 14 and 15: LIST OF FIGURESFigure 1 Decline in
Page 16 and 17: Table 5-12 Trade in technological p
Page 20: knowledge and from the consequences
Page 23 and 24: Arabic istechnologicallypoor in com
Page 25 and 26: Intercommunicationwith the self mea
Page 27 and 28: Table 2CountryGroupGroup 1: Oilecon
Page 29 and 30: Figure 2504540353025201510508070605
Page 31 and 32: In the period2003-2007, morethan 83
Page 33 and 34: Extremism negatesthe Other, haltsth
Page 35 and 36: The reformisttendency callsfor grad
Page 37 and 38: The current crisismay help to resto
Page 39 and 40: On the ICT axis, theArab states hav
Page 41 and 42: End Notes* Arberry, Arthur J. The K
Page 44 and 45: CHAPTER ONETHE THEORETICAL FRAMEWOR
Page 46 and 47: BOX 1-2“Knowledge” in al-Tahana
Page 48 and 49: phrases that do not display theoret
Page 50 and 51: enabling institutional and legal en
Page 52 and 53: the individual and collective ident
Page 54 and 55: services of seasoned experts and sc
Page 56 and 57: pay too little attention to the qua
Page 58 and 59: egion, greatest among them that the
Page 60 and 61: the values of democratic politicalr
Page 62 and 63: that occupy the lowest rung of the
Page 64 and 65: the Middle Ages, as if all that has
Page 66 and 67: of various ethnic, religious, and o
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infrastructure, effort, energy, and
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value to the lexicon of ethics, but
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limit knowledge exclusively to the
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CHAPTER TWOARAB KNOWLEDGE PERFORMAN
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Freedom is the basisof development.
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FIGURE 2-1Press freedom in the Arab
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Stringent legislativeand institutio
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Arab creativeproduction,especially
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The Arab countriesmost preparedto p
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TABLE 2-1Arab Countries that realis
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BOX 2-1The Contradictory Nature of
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External pressure,restrictions impo
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The Arab poorsuffer from socialmarg
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Arab countries havebeen absent from
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TABLE 2-3Rights and responsibilitie
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The current state ofknowledge-enabl
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To build andimplementan enablingenv
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Oman’s WorldStudies Instituteaims
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BOX 2-3The communications market in
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The desiredArab index willtranscend
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End Notes1The index divides the Ara
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CHAPTER THREEEDUCATION AND THE FORM
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In the last quarterof a century, Ar
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Knowledge is morethan the informati
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Although thelaws in most Arabcountr
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FIGURE 3-2: 19Basic knowledge capit
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Arab educationalcurricula in genera
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While Arab countriesvary greatly in
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FIGURE 3-390Advanced knowledge capi
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BOX 3-4The Commission for the Delib
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BOX 3-6Higher education in the Arab
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The available dataon the fields ofe
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Literacy ratesamong adults havenot
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Eight Arab countrieshave a critical
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Most Arab countrieshave been unable
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Statistical analysesshow a definite
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FIGURE 3-7Science performance of ei
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BOX 3-9Human Capital Formation to M
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BOX 3-10The Lebanese Association fo
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Clearly, the “lightsof knowledge
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End Notes1“Adult” is defined he
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40Accurate statistics are not avail
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level or the equivalent, post-secon
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CHAPTER FOURINFORMATION AND COMMUNI
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Over the last tenyears the Arabcoun
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FIGURE 4-3Internet users - Arab wor
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FIGURE 4-5Price basket for internet
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The growth ratein Arabic-speakingin
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During the comingdecade thetechnolo
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Strategic decisionstaken in many Ar
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In general, the Arabcountries are c
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FIGURE 4-8Availability of e-governm
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Some Arab stateshave taken initiati
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In contradiction tothe call to rest
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The experiences ofboth developingan
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FIGURE 4-10Paper consumption worldw
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A system formachine parsingArabic s
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BOX 4-7Egypt’s Centre for Documen
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More research shouldbe directed tow
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The possession ofinformation andcom
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End Notes1According to the majority
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Technology research and development
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CHAPTER FIVEARAB PERFORMANCE INRESE
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FIGURE 5-3Per capita GDP and the in
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the import and consumption of ready
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FIGURE 5-4Arab-international cooper
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are characterised by flexibility to
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esearchers prefer to remain in univ
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Arab countries can be ranked in ter
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FIGURE 5-5Arab participation in the
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Institute in the USA. By analysing
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5-6). A tabulation of all the Arab
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partnerships with foreign scientifi
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and anthropology have decreased (Ha
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Arabic). Aversion to reading is con
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to attract a number of invested par
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and security conditions offered by
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driven economies that are in the fi
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• Real and deep-rooted developmen
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of $1.57 billion due to human capit
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CHAPTER SIXBUILDING THE KNOWLEDGESO
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This can only come about through th
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proposals intended to give impetus
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knowledge society must be considere
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the Arab individual’s options to
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and the distribution of the benefit
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FIGURE 6-2Priorities for action to
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priorities in the area of movement
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ACTION TO DEPLOYKNOWLEDGEAction on
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knowledge technologies and their me
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REFERENCES
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Maghrib (Women and Politics: politi
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http://www.moe.gov.ps/intifada/repo
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Washington, D.C. www.heritage.org/i
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The World Bank. 2002. “Constructi
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ANNEX 1. LIST OF BACKGROUNDPAPERS (
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ANNEX 2. PROJECT FOR ADATABASE ON K
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include search engines, hyperlinks
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is arrived at by specifying the cou
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the knowledge economy. On this basi
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FIGURE A-3Index values for the pill
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TABLE A-4Availability of knowledge
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even contradictory. For example, da
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STATISTICAL ANNEX
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Table 2: Human Development IndicesC
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Table 4: World Bank Knowledge Econo
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Table 6: Worldwide governance indic
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Table 8: World Bank Economic Incent
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Table 10: Gross enrolment ratio in
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Table 12: World Bank Education and
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Table 14: Regional literacy rates a
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Table 17: Gross enrolment ratios in
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Table 19: Time devoted to education
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Table 21: Time devoted to secondary
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Table 23: Enrolment in tertiary edu
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Table 25: Number of specialists in
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Table 27: School life expectancy in
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Table 29: Government expenditure on
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Table 31: Number of students from s
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Table 33: World Bank Innovation Sys
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Table 35: World Bank indicators for
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(b) The growth of fixed and mobile
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for example, technological under-pr
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Table c-2: Classification of the Ar
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End Notes1For example a news report
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