Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

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• Real and deep-rooted development inArab education and scientific research,including a sufficient store of investmentto guarantee quality education, thelocal production of knowledge, theassimilation and indigenisation ofimported knowledge, and the rise of aculture that encourages innovation andinitiative.• Planning for the gradual transfer to aneconomy based on knowledge. This isa long-term ambition that requires anew, innovative, initiative-taking Arabmindset based on a positive approachto dealing with information and itstechnologies, highly competitiveskills, professionalism in labor andproduction, and commitment toprofessional ethics.Any strategy for improving Arabinnovation and research performance mustfollow two parallel approaches. One is theshort- and mid-term rationalization approachthat requires infusing key economic sectorswith high-level technology, with the goal ofgenerating added values to their outputsand absorbing imported innovations. Theother is the long-term innovative approachthat revolves around indigenising new andadvanced technology and then partneringin its local production. This strategy mustdraw on the general development goals ofeach Arab state, be accompanied by Arabcooperation in knowledge, and form alinked extension of the global knowledgestore (see Chapter 6).If scientific research and innovationsuffer from a lack of funding in the Arabregion, the time has come for the Arabprivate sector to provide it, not only asa national duty but as a necessity if theregion is to be propelled in the directionof globalism. Numerous other methodsexist for the funding of innovation. Forexample, one of the possible means ofsecuring additional resources for scientificand innovative activity is to impose a feeof no more than one US cent per cellularphone call to be drawn automatically byoperating companies and transferred to ajoint fund to support scientific research.The goal of this direct participationin funding scientific research, howevermodest it may be, would be to achievean added value that would contribute toimproving Arab innovative performance.A research and innovation strategyrequires the ordering of priorities in away that addresses the concerns shared bymost Arab countries and which faithfullyreflects the consensus of Arab and globalliterature in this field. Improving innovationperformance, like improving knowledgeperformance, requires a political decision.This must be supported by vision and willthat move in the direction of an openingup to democracy, political reform, andthe liberation of intellectual and academicfreedoms that will raise to internationallevels the standard of work in centres ofknowledge production and innovation, bethey universities or research centres.Such institutions are the engines ofnational growth. They are bastions ofcritical thought and research, and theyguarantee the creation of hi-tech companies.They also guarantee the generation of theproducts and ideas upon which society’ssecurity and progress depend. Theseinstitutions develop human resources thatare distinctive in their professionalismand leadership, and which are capableof taking wise decisions. In contrast tocompanies, computers, factories, airplanes,and advanced service sectors, one cannotimport universities or scientific centres ofexcellence, for such institutions can onlybe developed through an accumulative andinteractive process between society and itshuman forces, reinforced by far-reachingvision, and in an open environment ofprofessional commitment and high ethicalstandards.In the final chapter of this report weseek to develop a general vision for theknowledge society and its establishment,including measures that will help in shiftingthe proposed vision from the level ofaspiration to that of a search for channelsand procedures necessary to facilitate itsachievement.Improving innovationperformance, likeimproving knowledgeperformance, requiresa political decisionsupported by visionand will that movein the directionof an openingup to democracy,political reform,and the liberationof intellectual andacademic freedomsARAB PERFORMANCE IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION213
End Notes1UNESCO Institute for Statistics online database, http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/tableviewer/document.aspx?ReportId=143, on 13 January 2009.2As categorised by the World Bank’s KAM, one of the most widely referred to and up-to-date indices. Accordingto KAM, the four pillars of knowledge are innovation, education, information technology, and the knowledgeenvironment/economic incentive regime. Index values range from zero to ten and express the relative positionof the country in question compared to all other countries for which the index has been calculated. A decline inthe value of the index with regard to a given country does not necessarily mean a decline in the values for theindicators entered to create the index. It may simply be a product of the fact that the values of these indicatorshave risen to a lesser degree than those of other countries that are jockeying for their place on the scale.3The innovation system consists of three variables: royalty payments, patents granted by the US Patent andTrademark Office (USPTO), and number of scientific and technical journal publications.4Resolutions of the 2007 Arab Summit, held in Riyadh.5Classification and analysis by Mu‘in Hamza, Report core team member.6“The quality of scientific research institutions” is based on the ability of researchers to publish peer-reviewedscientific articles in international journals, to transfer the results of their research to production sectors, topreserve the environment and protect public health, to establish effective partnerships with various socialsectors, and to attract funding from international programmes.7“Technology assimilation and technology readiness”: the capacity of a private or public productive establishmentto make the most benefit from the outputs of research and invention. The indicator likewise reflects the presenceof an atmosphere conducive to research, the availability of specialised human assets, and the material andacademic incentives that lead to innovation and invention.8The numbers in this paragraph are the estimates of Report core team member Mu‘in Hamza, and derive fromuniversity bylaws and the evaluation instruments for full-time professors in most Arab countries.9As mentioned earlier, discrepancies exist among different international data sets. Such discrepancies may beattributable to differences in the definition of the term “researcher.”10Website of the Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) of theOrganisation of the Islamic Conference, http://www.comstech.org/links/posters.htm, on 10 June 2009.11World Bank, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) database, http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_pages5.asp, on 13 February 2009.12Statistical Institute, UNESCO, http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.asp on 10 June 2009.13Analysis and calculation by Mu‘in Hamza, Report core team member, based on data from COMSTECH and KAM.14The Sixth Framework Programme is the European Union’s programme for research and technologicaldevelopment. It consists of initiatives undertaken by the EU to fund and promote research.15These include basic and applied, but not human and social sciences.16A significant proportion of research published in some Arabs countries is the work of researchers from otherArab or non-Arab countries. The reason for this is either the authors’ residence in these countries or the fact thatthe incentives and facilities they offer are superior to that offered in the authors’ home countries. As such, thenumbers in this chart may give an exaggerated picture of the reality in some states, including those of the Gulf,and an underestimation of other states, such as Egypt and Iraq. The publication of scientific periodicals wasstopped in Iraq during the decade of economic sanctions of 1991 to 2002, forcing Iraqi researchers either not topublish or to publish outside Iraq.17The scientific impact indicator reflects the value of scientific articles and their social impact.18Estimate of Report core team member Mu’in Hamza, based on a number of sources of information on Arabscientific publications from universities, research centres, and some private agencies that are repeated in mostArab studies without mention of a specific reference due to the lack of reliable statistics.19The numbers for patents registered with the USPTO found in the World Bank KAM indices may differ from thosefound in the national databases of various countries that are used in some regional studies.20The World Bank, KAM, http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.asp, on 13 February 2009.21These results were calculated based on data found in various chapters of the Report.22The National Council for Scientific Research, http://www.cnrs.edu.lb, on 12 December 200823This book was later re-published under the title Architecture for the Poor: An Experiment in Rural Egypt.24World Bank, KAM database, http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.asp on 25 December 2008.25Studies published by Arab research centres (the League of Arab Countries, the conferences of Arab ministersconcerned with human capital and its flight, and the Gulf Centre for Strategic Studies) show that the countriesthat draw the most human capital are Arab Gulf countries, some European countries (France, Germany, Spain,Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland), the USA, Canada, and Australia. Scientifically qualified Arab human capitalthat migrates to the USA, Britain, and Canada forms 75% of all migrants, and the annual percentage of Arabuniversity graduates who migrate is 25%. Global estimates suggest that the Arab countries suffer annual losses214 ARAB KNOWLEDGE REPORT 2009
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United Nations Development Programm
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This Report has been produced throu
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This year’s report may perhapsbes
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ICT in the Arab countries and reinf
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CONTENTSPREAMBLEIntroductionPrelimi
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Quantitative indicatorsTertiary edu
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LIST OF BOXESBox 1 The Effect of th
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Figure 5-7 Published scientific art
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Table 21 Time devoted to secondary
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The knowledgefield and revolutionto
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The literature onhuman rights place
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Arabic istechnologicallypoor in com
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Intercommunicationwith the self mea
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Table 2CountryGroupGroup 1: Oilecon
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Figure 2504540353025201510508070605
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In the period2003-2007, morethan 83
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eversion, in many cases, is not ass
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Thus the Arab region in general, an
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knowledge over recent years. This w
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However, this progress remains limi
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CHAPTER ONETHE THEORETICAL FRAMEWOR
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The successfuldeployment ofthe know
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The knowledgerevolution atthe end o
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Technology, theeconomy, andsociety,
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No one pursuesknowledge forits own
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The Report adoptsa concept ofknowle
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The goal of thiscritical review isn
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In our bidfor economicand humandeve
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The political reformproject remains
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Globalisation isdependent oninforma
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The battle overknowledge in oursoci
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The most obviousexample of the gapb
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BOX 1-9The Virtual as an Interrogat
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The upsurge intechnologicalprowess
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Collective humaneffort must bedirec
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End Notes1Epistemic saturation refe
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CHAPTER TWOARAB KNOWLEDGE PERFORMAN
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current economic crisis in the autu
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FIGURE 2-3Perceptions of corruption
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technology infrastructure, blogs ar
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nations continue to occupy their pr
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to the third oil boom, which reache
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have realised a degree of progress
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FIGURE 2-8Index of global competiti
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FIGURE 2-10Net exports of manufactu
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namely the spread of poverty, socia
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TABLE 2-2Arab Countries according t
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while some of these nine countries
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and political participation. All of
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first INTEL computer club; INTELis
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from the ages of thirteen to twenty
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solutions that allow use of the ava
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to this trajectory, a consumer, not
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specific cases.These flexibilities
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CHAPTER THREEEDUCATION AND THE FORM
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FIGURE 3-1Education and human resou
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of the qualitative knowledge capita
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TABLE 3-1CountryOpportunities for b
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Virtually the only area in which Ar
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must possess if they aspire to part
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TABLE 3-2Opportunities for the form
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General secondary education andthe
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elatively high enrolment rates of b
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Available data shows large discrepa
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TABLE 3-3Comparison of overall resu
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females. According to this data, to
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show educational accomplishments am
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inroads well beyond their current f
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FIGURE 3-6aMaths performance of eig
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BOX 3-8The Contribution of Non-Publ
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Kuwait, and the worst performers su
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emained encumbered by the prevailin
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eveal the breadth of the gap that c
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countries and providing a picture o
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information systems. The available
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89Finland, for example, whose stude
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CHAPTER FOURINFORMATION AND COMMUNI
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FIGURE 4-1ICT index values for Arab
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countries and the Arab countries. T
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Arab countries-Egypt, Algeria, Leba
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of Arabic content and its low rate
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exchange of future technology servi
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of national partnerships aimed at s
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TABLE 4-2Readiness of Arab countrie
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as the implementation of programmes
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BOX 4-2Evaluating the Performance o
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Page 184 and 185: FIGURE 4-11Paper consumption and in
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Page 190 and 191: within bounds that do not hinder bu
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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
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Page 209 and 210: Average expenditureon scientific re
Page 211 and 212: BOX 5-6Jordan’s “A Professor in
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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 and 222: Most Arabic-languageperiodicals in
Page 223 and 224: Arab societies arefilled with examp
Page 225 and 226: Human capitalis among Arabcountries
Page 227 and 228: TABLE 5-12Trade in technological pr
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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
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of the Arab countries and suffer fr
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Freedom House and Heritage Institut
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Endnotes* This annex was prepared b
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STATISTICAL ANNEXGENERAL INDICATORS
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Table 3: Economic IndicatorsCountry
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KNOWLEDGE PERFORMANCE ENVIRONMENTST
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Table 7: Press Freedom Index in the
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EDUCATIONTable 9: Adult literacy ra
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Table 11: Gross enrolment ratios in
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Table 13: Adult illiterate populati
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Table 16: Net and gross enrolment i
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Table 18: Lessons in basic educatio
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Table 20: Literacy rates among youn
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Table 22: Evolution of enrolment ra
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Table 24: Student enrolment rates i
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Table 26: Distribution of graduates
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Table 28: Estimated educational lev
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Table 30: Enrolment rates in non-go
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RESEARCH AND INNOVATIONTable 32: Nu
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Table 34: Indicators on research an
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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHN
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FIGURE b-2Growth in average number
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competition between the internet se
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Table c-4: Ranking of a group of Ar
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United Nations Development Programm
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