Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Arabic). Aversion to reading is connectedto a high illiteracy rate, low purchasingpower, low quality of education, and thelack of cultural development plans, allof which facilitate the spread of easier,simpler, and less costly commercial mediawhose knowledge content becomes centralto mainstream culture.As for Arab architecture, it faces theproblem of the relationship between localarchitectural heritage and contemporaryarchitectural concepts and technologies.And yet the experiences of innovativearchitects have been a success whenthey have been able to strengthen therelationship between heritage and theproduction, industry, and technologymarkets. In contrast, certain attemptsto transfer or copy architectural modelsthat do not take Arab particularities intoconsideration have failed.In contrast, the cinema scene is bothlively and full of variety. Arab cinema hasa lengthy history that began in the earlytwentieth century in Egypt, which stillremains the leader of Arab cinematicproduction today. Arab interest in cinemahas expanded since then, however, toinclude Morocco, Lebanon, and someGulf countries, which now have advancedcinema production studios. Arab cinematicBOX 5-9As set forth in his book Building with the People, 23Hasan Fathi’s view of the relation betweenarchitecture and the human led him to establishan alternative form of architecture that rejectsthe copying of Western buildings. In Egyptianrural architecture he found artistic, technical, andenvironmental solutions for facilitating daily life andmaintaining a relationship with the land.The second half of the twentieth century ismarked by the pioneering experience of the lateRahbani brothers, Asi and Mansur, which culminatedin their collaboration with the enchanting voice ofFairuz, imprinted in the imagination of successivegenerations as an accompaniment to their joys,sorrows, rituals, and longings. The Rahbani schoolhas had a radical impact on Lebanese art in itsreliance on short songs, subtle vocal expression, andhigh-level orchestral and theatrical performance,TABLE 5-10CountryFairuz and the Rahbani brothersproductions participate in internationalfestivals even as some Arab countriescontinue to ban public movie theatres.A telling sign that cultural and artisticinnovation is opening up in the Arab worldis the growing number of cinema screensand audiences. Data on cinema audiencesshows that Egypt, Bahrain, and Moroccotake the lead with regard to the sevenArab countries for which detailed data isavailable in both the number of viewersand their ratio to the number of cinemas(Figure 5-10). In so far as film-making is aArab Innovators in Architecture and MusicSizes of cinema audiences and numbersof cinema screens, 2004-2005Size of audience(in millions)The works of Rif‘at Chadirji are characterisedby a deep theoretical and practical assimilation oflocal roots of expression and their translation intothe technical terms of modernity. Chadirji has alsomade theoretical and critical contributions throughhis writings that address debates in the field ofarchitecture and has established an annual award forpioneering Arab architects.as well as inspiring poetic images and a revival ofLebanese rural heritage in compositions that varyfrom the romantic and traditional to the modern.After performing hundreds of their songs and scoresof musical plays every year, and after exploring newvocal horizons with her son Ziyad, Fairuz remainsan innovator today. She shines in the hearts ofher public, remaining at the heart of public taste,despite the shifts in generations, technologies, andartistic preferences.CinemascreensNumber of cinemagoers (in thousands)per cinema screenEgypt 26.8 250 107.2Bahrain 1.3 26 48.1Morocco 3.8 115 33.2United Arab Emirates 6.3 202 31.4Lebanon 2.1 87 24.1Tunisia 0.3 29 10.3Algeria 0.7 69 10.1Source: The European Audiovisual Observatory, www.obs.coe.int, 15 December 2008A telling sign thatcultural and artisticinnovation isopening up in theArab world is thegrowing numberof cinema screensand audiencesARAB PERFORMANCE IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION205
Arab societies arefilled with examplesof distinguishedliterary and artisticexpression of thehighest standards,but these continue tobe disproportionatelysmall in comparisonto the size of theArab world and therange of its naturaland human capacitiesThe delivery ofcreative productsto the people andtheir disseminationthroughout theArab world remainrestricted by thelimited nature of itsfreedoms and themeagreness of itsopening up to andcommunicativenesswith both insideand outsidemass art, the flourishing of a commercial,consumer-oriented cinema sets the patternfor public taste, and it is a pattern that, inthis case, makes no contribution to thedevelopment of the cinema as an art form.Films recorded on video and compactdisc in violation of intellectual propertylaws have contributed significantly to thedecreasing percentage of the public thatattend Arab cinemas.The issue of freedom of expressionarises more often in the fields of culturaland artistic innovation than it does in thepure sciences, due to the latter’s directconnection to political issues, to the public,and to people of all social and culturallevels, as well as to the ease and speedof its dissemination and the possibilityof its transmission through the modernmedia. The danger lies in the possibilityof innovators adapting to the intellectuallimits placed upon them by modern media,and in persecution. “Exile” literatureand music flourish as a result becauseinnovators are drawn abroad; they migrateto the broad spaces of freedom in order toexpress their innovation honestly, daringly,and distinctively. Although Arab societiesare filled with examples of distinguishedliterary and artistic expression of thehighest standards, these continue to bedisproportionately small in comparison tothe size of the Arab world and the rangeof its natural and human capacities. Thedelivery of creative products to the peopleand their dissemination throughout theArab world remain restricted by the limitednature of its freedoms and the meagrenessof its opening up to and communicativenesswith both inside and outside.THE INNOVATION GAP ANDITS INDICATORS IN THECURRENT STATE OF ARABKNOWLEDGETHE INNOVATION GAPAwareness of and interest in investmentin research and innovation as pillars ofknowledge have increased in Arab countriessince the early 1980s. Arab scientificresearch centres have made consistent andnoticeable progress in all specialisations,and whereas in the mid-twentieth centuryonly Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and Lebanonhad research centres and institutions, nowmost Arab countries have them. WhenArabs were once entirely absent from theglobal arena of scientific publishing, theirpublications now constitute up to 1.1 percent of the world’s total (TWAS, 2005).This presence, even though modest, isa step in the right direction. Most peerreviewedscientific publications come froma small number of Arab countries, Egyptat their head, and a significant portion ofit consists of joint scientific publicationsbetween Arab researchers and researchersfrom Europe and the USA.According to UNESCO’s definition,“scientific research and developmentincludes all innovative activities carried outaccording to a methodology and systematicprocedures with the aim of enriching thestore of human knowledge, which embracesknowledge of man, of nature, of culture,and of society, and makes use of this storeof knowledge in pioneering applicationsto serve holistic human development.” Itis now widely accepted that the concept ofscience encompasses the natural sciences,engineering, agriculture, medicine,technology, the social and human sciences,and a society’s cultural heritage (UNESCO,2005, in Arabic).The primary mission of the sciencesis to find solutions to problems facedby humankind. Advanced technologiesmeanwhile drive the process of change,while innovation is the true indicator ofa shift to the stage of effective impact inthe areas of social action and production.Policies in many countries have mandatedscientific research as a means of producinginnovation and developing the production,service, environment, and public healthsectors. Yet innovation is not to bemeasured only in terms of the outcomesof research, for it is an active processcharacterised by dynamism and openness,and its sustainability depends on its ability206 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009
Page 1 and 2:
United Nations Development Programm
Page 3 and 4:
This Report has been produced throu
Page 5 and 6:
This year’s report may perhapsbes
Page 7 and 8:
ICT in the Arab countries and reinf
Page 9 and 10:
CONTENTSPREAMBLEIntroductionPrelimi
Page 11 and 12:
Quantitative indicatorsTertiary edu
Page 13 and 14:
LIST OF BOXESBox 1 The Effect of th
Page 15 and 16:
Figure 5-7 Published scientific art
Page 17 and 18:
Table 21 Time devoted to secondary
Page 19 and 20:
The knowledgefield and revolutionto
Page 21 and 22:
The literature onhuman rights place
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 34 and 35:
eversion, in many cases, is not ass
Page 36 and 37:
Thus the Arab region in general, an
Page 38 and 39:
knowledge over recent years. This w
Page 40 and 41:
However, this progress remains limi
Page 42:
CHAPTER ONETHE THEORETICAL FRAMEWOR
Page 45 and 46:
The successfuldeployment ofthe know
Page 47 and 48:
The knowledgerevolution atthe end o
Page 49 and 50:
Technology, theeconomy, andsociety,
Page 51 and 52:
No one pursuesknowledge forits own
Page 53 and 54:
The Report adoptsa concept ofknowle
Page 55 and 56:
The goal of thiscritical review isn
Page 57 and 58:
In our bidfor economicand humandeve
Page 59 and 60:
The political reformproject remains
Page 61 and 62:
Globalisation isdependent oninforma
Page 63 and 64:
The battle overknowledge in oursoci
Page 65 and 66:
The most obviousexample of the gapb
Page 67 and 68:
BOX 1-9The Virtual as an Interrogat
Page 69 and 70:
The upsurge intechnologicalprowess
Page 71 and 72:
Collective humaneffort must bedirec
Page 73 and 74:
End Notes1Epistemic saturation refe
Page 76 and 77:
CHAPTER TWOARAB KNOWLEDGE PERFORMAN
Page 78 and 79:
current economic crisis in the autu
Page 80 and 81:
FIGURE 2-3Perceptions of corruption
Page 82 and 83:
technology infrastructure, blogs ar
Page 84 and 85:
nations continue to occupy their pr
Page 86 and 87:
to the third oil boom, which reache
Page 88 and 89:
have realised a degree of progress
Page 90 and 91:
FIGURE 2-8Index of global competiti
Page 92 and 93:
FIGURE 2-10Net exports of manufactu
Page 94 and 95:
namely the spread of poverty, socia
Page 96 and 97:
TABLE 2-2Arab Countries according t
Page 98 and 99:
while some of these nine countries
Page 100 and 101:
and political participation. All of
Page 102 and 103:
first INTEL computer club; INTELis
Page 104 and 105:
from the ages of thirteen to twenty
Page 106 and 107:
solutions that allow use of the ava
Page 108 and 109:
to this trajectory, a consumer, not
Page 110:
specific cases.These flexibilities
Page 114 and 115:
CHAPTER THREEEDUCATION AND THE FORM
Page 116 and 117:
FIGURE 3-1Education and human resou
Page 118 and 119:
of the qualitative knowledge capita
Page 120 and 121:
TABLE 3-1CountryOpportunities for b
Page 122 and 123:
Virtually the only area in which Ar
Page 124 and 125:
must possess if they aspire to part
Page 126 and 127:
TABLE 3-2Opportunities for the form
Page 128 and 129:
General secondary education andthe
Page 130 and 131:
elatively high enrolment rates of b
Page 132 and 133:
Available data shows large discrepa
Page 134 and 135:
TABLE 3-3Comparison of overall resu
Page 136 and 137:
females. According to this data, to
Page 138 and 139:
show educational accomplishments am
Page 140 and 141:
inroads well beyond their current f
Page 142 and 143:
FIGURE 3-6aMaths performance of eig
Page 144 and 145:
BOX 3-8The Contribution of Non-Publ
Page 146 and 147:
Kuwait, and the worst performers su
Page 148 and 149:
emained encumbered by the prevailin
Page 150 and 151:
eveal the breadth of the gap that c
Page 152 and 153:
countries and providing a picture o
Page 154 and 155:
information systems. The available
Page 156:
89Finland, for example, whose stude
Page 160 and 161:
CHAPTER FOURINFORMATION AND COMMUNI
Page 162 and 163:
FIGURE 4-1ICT index values for Arab
Page 164 and 165:
countries and the Arab countries. T
Page 166 and 167:
Arab countries-Egypt, Algeria, Leba
Page 168 and 169:
of Arabic content and its low rate
Page 170 and 171:
exchange of future technology servi
Page 172 and 173: of national partnerships aimed at s
Page 174 and 175: TABLE 4-2Readiness of Arab countrie
Page 176 and 177: as the implementation of programmes
Page 178 and 179: BOX 4-2Evaluating the Performance o
Page 180 and 181: of common principles that guarantee
Page 182 and 183: data from various sources and then
Page 184 and 185: FIGURE 4-11Paper consumption and in
Page 186 and 187: processing and the methods and tool
Page 188 and 189: TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEAND FUTURE INI
Page 190 and 191: within bounds that do not hinder bu
Page 192 and 193: preservation and the consolidation
Page 194 and 195: 21As a result of the nature of comp
Page 196: CHAPTER FIVEARAB PERFORMANCE IN RES
Page 199 and 200: FIGURE 5-1Innovation system index f
Page 201 and 202: The extremely lowamounts spentby Ar
Page 203 and 204: It has become clearthat the wager o
Page 205 and 206: Joint researchprojects among Arabsc
Page 207 and 208: Theoretically, themore researcherst
Page 209 and 210: Average expenditureon scientific re
Page 211 and 212: BOX 5-6Jordan’s “A Professor in
Page 213 and 214: BOX 5-8For the last three decades,
Page 215 and 216: FIGURE 5-7Published scientific arti
Page 217 and 218: A review of theperiod from 2002to 2
Page 219 and 220: Social scienceresearch holds aspeci
Page 221: Most Arabic-languageperiodicals in
Page 225 and 226: Human capitalis among Arabcountries
Page 227 and 228: TABLE 5-12Trade in technological pr
Page 229 and 230: It is ironic thatalthough the Arabw
Page 231 and 232: End Notes1UNESCO Institute for Stat
Page 234: CHAPTER SIXBUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE S
Page 237 and 238: The most conspicuousfeature of thek
Page 239 and 240: A review of nationalplans in the Ar
Page 241 and 242: The positiveachievements inthe Arab
Page 243 and 244: One of the keyfoundations of thevis
Page 245 and 246: Freedom andinstitutionalisationare
Page 247 and 248: Priorities are subjectto a great de
Page 249 and 250: If we admit thatlanguage is avehicl
Page 251 and 252: The major challengelies in changing
Page 253 and 254: Deployment is linkedto the creation
Page 255 and 256: The variousproposals includedin thi
Page 258 and 259: ReferencesReferences in Arabic‘Ab
Page 260 and 261: the President of the ICRC Expresses
Page 262 and 263: al-Duwal al-‘Arabiyya, UNESCO’s
Page 264 and 265: Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development asF
Page 266: Castells, Manuel. (1998/2001). LaSo
Page 269 and 270: the Age of Technology).• Binsa‘
Page 271 and 272: egional and international levels an
Page 274 and 275:
ANNEX 3. MEASUREMENT OF THE ARABCOU
Page 276 and 277:
indicators that make up the pillar.
Page 278 and 279:
countries’ rankings among the cou
Page 280 and 281:
of the Arab countries and suffer fr
Page 282 and 283:
Freedom House and Heritage Institut
Page 284:
Endnotes* This annex was prepared b
Page 288 and 289:
STATISTICAL ANNEXGENERAL INDICATORS
Page 290 and 291:
Table 3: Economic IndicatorsCountry
Page 292 and 293:
KNOWLEDGE PERFORMANCE ENVIRONMENTST
Page 294 and 295:
Table 7: Press Freedom Index in the
Page 296 and 297:
EDUCATIONTable 9: Adult literacy ra
Page 298 and 299:
Table 11: Gross enrolment ratios in
Page 300 and 301:
Table 13: Adult illiterate populati
Page 302 and 303:
Table 16: Net and gross enrolment i
Page 304 and 305:
Table 18: Lessons in basic educatio
Page 306 and 307:
Table 20: Literacy rates among youn
Page 308 and 309:
Table 22: Evolution of enrolment ra
Page 310 and 311:
Table 24: Student enrolment rates i
Page 312 and 313:
Table 26: Distribution of graduates
Page 314 and 315:
Table 28: Estimated educational lev
Page 316 and 317:
Table 30: Enrolment rates in non-go
Page 318 and 319:
RESEARCH AND INNOVATIONTable 32: Nu
Page 320 and 321:
Table 34: Indicators on research an
Page 322 and 323:
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHN
Page 324 and 325:
FIGURE b-2Growth in average number
Page 326 and 327:
competition between the internet se
Page 328 and 329:
Table c-4: Ranking of a group of Ar
Page 332:
United Nations Development Programm
show all

Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?