Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

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CHAPTER SIXBUILDING THE KNOWLEDGESOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD:A VISION AND A PLANIntroductionIn this chapter we aim to bring a set of elementstogether into a working plan based on theprinciples and action mechanisms required toclose the knowledge gap in the Arab countries,bringing their people into the knowledge societyas participants in knowledge production. It istrue that the analysis of the preceding chaptershas revealed the existence of some progress incertain aspects of the knowledge society. It has,however, also highlighted many gaps which mustbe dealt with seriously and resolutely. At thispoint, we will seek to put together a vision anda programme of action designed to make acontribution to filling the gaps in the landscapeof Arab knowledge.We do not wish to confront the knowledgegap by complacently repeating suggestions forself-reliance or dependence on the past andour existing knowledge reserves; the knowledgerevolution requires us to transcend such reactions,for Arab society faces a major challenge in the fieldof knowledge, and concerted efforts are called forif we are to build the knowledge society.If knowledge is to be acquired and asociety built around it, if it is to be deployedin the service of development and progress,certain demands must be met. In this chapter,we will content ourselves with sketching ageneral architecture of our vision and makingproposals intended to assist in closing theknowledge gap in the Arab countries. Thisarchitecture will allow us to construct a body ofelements related to the enabling environmentand the indigenisation of knowledge, as wellas to assemble recent data that clarify therequirements for innovation in the field ofknowledge, so that the best may be extractedto serve human development.This proposed Arab plan is the result of theinvestigation and diagnosis we have undertakenin the Report. We do not claim that thedemands and priorities we will put forward areeither comprehensive or exhaustive, nor do weclaim to hold a monopoly over the truth or theright answers in this field. We do intend to setdown comprehensible and motivating markersto indicate the route.As we have stated in the other chapters ofthe Report, the right to knowledge shouldbe considered the cornerstone of humandevelopment. This right requires the generalisationof the benefits of knowledge and of participationin its reproduction according to the needs of oursocieties, and it is within this context that the bodyof elements of the proposed plan take form. Theplan’s higher aim is to spur public debate andpositive movement towards a knowledge societybuilt on solid foundations and under the firmcontrol of Arab society through the partnershipof its various components. Thereafter thestrategies and mechanisms formulated and rankedby consensus can be adopted.THE ARAB KNOWLEDGE GAP:DEFICITS AND HOLESIn the Report we have identified the natureof the Arab knowledge gap and highlighteda body of data and conclusions, the mostimportant of which are:• An understanding of the definingcharacteristics of the knowledgesociety, which is under continuousformulation, by an investigation ofits most prominent components andproblematics. In the first and secondchapters, the Report has attempted tosurvey the difficulties of the subject andlay the groundwork for their solution byinvestigating the environments that assistThe demandsand priorities putforward are neithercomprehensive norexhaustive, nor dothey claim to hold amonopoly over thetruth or the rightanswers in this field.The programmeintends to set downcomprehensible andmotivating markersto indicate the routeThe plan’s higheraim is to spur publicdebate and positivemovement towardsa knowledgesociety built onsolid foundationsand under the firmcontrol of Arabsociety throughthe partnership ofvarious sectorsBUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN219
The most conspicuousfeature of theknowledge societyis its relationshipto networking andnetworks, whichplay prominentroles in the variousaspects of the life ofmodern societiesThe Report couldnever have addressedthe reality ofknowledge in theArab world withoutlinking the right toknowledge to theright to developmentKnowledge isfreedom anddevelopmentand there can beneither knowledgenor developmentwithout freedomin the birth and formation of the knowledgesociety.In its theoretical framework, theReport aims to survey the poles thatdefine the boundaries of the knowledgesociety. It summarises these as three–technology, economy, and society–andhighlights the interconnection andinteraction among them. The report alsopoints to the most conspicuous featureof the knowledge society, which is itsrelationship to networking and networks,which play prominent roles in thevarious aspects of the life of modernsocieties. Chapter 1 also endeavours toformulate an operational definition tohelp formulate specific choices as toindicators and indices for the knowledgesociety appropriate to Arab aspirations.Chapter 1 also aims to construct thegeneral theoretical frames of referencefor the indicators, classifying the featuresascribed to the knowledge society intotwo broad orders. The first of these isrelated to philosophical positivism andits quantitative predilections based ontechnological determinism. The secondis the modernising and liberal trendcontained in the systems of theinternational human rights conventions.The chapter puts forward a synthesis ofa sample of new questions and challengesraised globally and in our Arab nation,which we assume is not isolated fromthe changes underway elsewhere at thebeginning of the twenty-first century,with its defining revolutions in andtransformations of knowledge. Theseinclude those related to the question ofidentity, political participation, gender, andthe development of the Arabic language.Likewise, the chapter raises the need for anew code of ethics equal to the demandsof this task and prioritizing humankind,and outlines the features of Arab solidarityand cooperation, in addition to the valuesof openness to, and intercommunicationwith, humanity at large.The Report could never have addressedthe reality of knowledge in the Arab worldwithout linking the right to knowledgeto the right to development. These twoform the underpinnings of the conceptsin question. Equally, this chapter sketchesthe major features of the knowledgesociety, to provide a framework for thediagnosis and study of our own situation.Based on this framework, this situationshould be reconstructed in the light oflocal specificities linked to Arab realityand the efforts required to indigenise themechanisms of the knowledge societyin the service of the hoped-for Arabdevelopment project.Chapter 2 concerns itself with adiscussion of the enabling environmentrequired in order to put the knowledgesociety in place. Such a discussion isa necessity given that the differentmanifestations of the knowledge societyin the contemporary world have rootsand foundations that are essential to itsexistence. The chapter goes on to addressthe issue of relationship of knowledge tofreedom, starting from the assumption thatknowledge is freedom and developmentand that there can be neither knowledgenor development without freedom. Thislink does not, however, imply that thetwo are mechanically and inseparablybound. The chapter also goes beyond thiscontroversial diagnosis and surveys thegeneral conditions that help to build theknowledge society. These are to be foundin environments that assist in bridging theknowledge gap. These call for politicaland institutional, and equally cultural andintellectual, reform, in addition to reform ofthe media and renewal of communicationsand ICT platforms.Arab societies cannot cross thethresholds of the knowledge societyand launch themselves into knowledgeproduction and creation withoutnurturing environments and supportinginstitutions. The experiences of statesthat have entered the knowledge societybefore us affirm this necessity. Hencethe Arab societies are called upon toprepare the ground appropriately forthe possession of knowledge and theabsorption of its innovations and benefits.220 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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of common principles that guarantee
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data from various sources and then
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Page 188 and 189: TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEAND FUTURE INI
Page 190 and 191: within bounds that do not hinder bu
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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
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Page 209 and 210: Average expenditureon scientific re
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Page 215 and 216: FIGURE 5-7Published scientific arti
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Page 227 and 228: TABLE 5-12Trade in technological pr
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Page 231 and 232: End Notes1UNESCO Institute for Stat
Page 234: CHAPTER SIXBUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE S
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
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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
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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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