Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

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knowledge technologies and their methodscreate many of the positive aspects of ourage. These have reduced the stagnation ofknowledge that dominates many aspects oflife and thought in Arab reality. We assumethat the new plans in the programmesof education and cultural media will intheir turn engage in practices that enablethe consolidation of new traditions ofthought, work, and production.The priorities for action on thedeployment axis are to be carried throughwith an awareness of the difficulty ofreaching the goal of human development.Actions in this field are to be directedtowards the expansion of levels ofArab knowledge performance and itsgeneralisation to the various productiveand developmental sectors. They are also tobe directed to opening up of theformulation of social and economicdevelopment plans using the means andtools provided by today’s knowledgerevolutions. Human development strategiesrequire a multiplication of efforts, deepenedintercommunication and openness, aninflow of resources, institution building,and the spread of a culture of rationality andsuccess at work, in the family, at school anduniversity, within factories and onworksites.TOWARDS A NEWMECHANISM TO MEASUREARAB KNOWLEDGESince we are suggesting work along anumber of lines and directions, we cannotignore the importance of finding a practicalmechanism to measure progress towardsthe knowledge society that helps society asa whole. Such a mechanism would assistdecision makers and specialists to recognisethe stages of knowledge acquisition thathave already been traversed and identify thegaps in them, so as to reach a more precisedefinition of markers of progress. Withinthis context, finding an integrated systemto monitor the reality of knowledge in theArab world today is a basic need. Indeed,in the Arab present, it forms the first steptowards a revival in Arabic knowledgeperformance and the acquisition of theprinciples of innovation, since programmescannot be devised without measuring thegaps and knowing the degrees ofimbalance that prevail in the various fieldsof knowledge.THE ARAB KNOWLEDGEINDEXThere is no way to revive knowledgewithout a careful and objective check ofthe range of defects and gaps that havebegun to broaden in the absence of aclear plan to overcome knowledge flawsin our society. We call, therefore, forthe creation of a new index designed togive a more accurate picture of the stateof Arab knowledge by transcending thetraditional perspective of measuringknowledge production on the basis ofindices that do not conform to the realityof Arab knowledge. We conceive of theproposed index as being distinguishedby its exhaustive investigation of thestate of information in circulation andby its formulation of indicators able tocollate and interpret the various relevantinteractions existing within the conditionsof Arab knowledge.Creating such an index will requirecollective work in which the variousconcerned societal bodies shouldparticipate. Should this be the case, the newindex will emerge from the very core ofArab reality and agreement will be achievedon adopting it in analysis and approachand, consequently, on the formulation andapplication of policies and plans.The index is a central step inpreparations for the building of the Arabknowledge society, in that the foundationswill be laid, the data compiled, and theindices devised in the framework ofintercommunication with the self and itsknowledge conditions, without ignoringthe benefit of previous experiences in thisfield. This is because the creation of aproposed Arab knowledge index doesnot mean forsaking the gains built up byWe call for thecreation of a newindex designed togive a more accuratepicture of the stateof Arab knowledgeThe index isconsidered acentral step inpreparations for thebuilding of the Arabknowledge society:the foundations willbe laid, the datacompiled, and theindices devised inthe framework ofintercommunicationwith the self andits knowledgeconditions, withoutignoring thebenefit of previousexperiences inthis fieldBUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN237
The variousproposals includedin this vision andrelated to theestablishment of theknowledge society inthe Arab world are inalignment with thespirit and choices ofhuman developmentexperiences prior to ours so much as itmeans building an index that responds tothe requirements of Arab reality and seeksto give knowledge a status that will equip itto act as the locomotive for renaissance anddevelopment. This suggestion should not beconsidered utopian, albeit utopias have theirsignificance. Rather, it is included within theplans to help overcome the Arab knowledgegap through a step by step process ofconstruction that assumes that an Arabknowledge index is only a first step on along path.CONCLUSIONThe various proposals included in thisvision and related to the establishment ofthe knowledge society in the Arab worldare in alignment with the spirit and choicesof human development. At the same time,mention must be made of expanding thesignifications of the features associatedwith the knowledge society. Those linkedto the containment of technologicaldeterminism and of the transformationof ICT into a replacement for themechanisms of critical knowledge andhistorical investigation, which evokes boththe total human dimension and historicalspecificities, are of particular importancehere. In the measures for action that wehave laid out in general fashion in theprevious pages, we have been content topoint to the major landmarks on the pathleading to the highway of the knowledgesociety.From time to time, along the three axeswhose priorities for action we have beenconcerned to expound, we have pausedto consider examples drawn from certainkey sectors without going into detail. TheReport considers that current knowledgeperformance has in common sharedrequirements, which may be subsumedunder the major heading of the knowledgegap, which we consider to be dissimilarin the different parts of the Arab world.This calls for greater understanding of theArab knowledge reality in each countryseparately in order to sketch the specificfeatures in advance of the kind of actionrequired according to the size and natureof the gap.In the vision and plan proposed here, wehave been content to remain at the generaland common level. We have identified thedemand for a comprehensive perspectiveon the knowledge society. We have alsosketched the essential requirements forintegration with the knowledge society,namely, human and material resources,working tools, and horizons to which toaspire. The centre of gravity of this reporthas been the defence of the principle of“intercommunication” through partnershipand productive and creative integration.The Report’s vision has been translatedinto an achievable proposal andincludes markers along the route tointercommunication, a route that will leadto integration into spaces of knowledgethat fly the flag of humanity and humanintelligence in the name of partnershipand creativity.“A nd I say that life is indeeddarkness save when there is urge,And all urge is blind save whenthere is knowledge,And all knowledge is vain savewhen there is work...”GIBRAN KHALIL GIBRAN238 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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FIGURE 4-11Paper consumption and in
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processing and the methods and tool
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TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEAND FUTURE INI
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within bounds that do not hinder bu
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preservation and the consolidation
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21As a result of the nature of comp
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CHAPTER FIVEARAB PERFORMANCE IN RES
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FIGURE 5-1Innovation system index f
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The extremely lowamounts spentby Ar
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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
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 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
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: Deployment is linkedto the creation
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
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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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