Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive

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FIGURE b-2Growth in average number of fixed telephone lines per thousand people plotted against percapita income for the world’s states, some Arab states, and selected groups of states800Arab states World states Groups of states700R 2 = 0.849Number of fixed telephone lines perthousand inhabitants600500400300200100WorldArab statesR 2 = 0.502300 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000Per Capita GDP (in dollars of PPP)Source: World Bank database (Knowledge Assessment Methodology)FIGURE b-3Growth in average number of mobile phone lines per thousand of population plotted againstper capita income for the world’s states, some Arab states, and selected groups of states1400Arab states World states Groups of statesNumber of mobile telephone linesper thousand inhabitants, 200512001000800600400200WorldArab statesR 2 = 0.7849R 2 = 0.798600 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000Per Capita GDP (in dollars of PPP)Source: World Bank database (Knowledge Assessment Methodology)STATISTICAL ANNEX307
for example, technological under-preparation that may open the door to futile practices and delay the widespreadprovision of services that conform to the tastes and behaviours of Arab societies. There is time enough, however,to avoid such pitfalls given that it is expected that onerous costs will remain a barrier until competition between theservice companies leads to a marked drop in prices. Likewise, the rise in demand for 3G lines will depend as muchon the removal of restrictions imposed by most Arab states on the use of certain services that form key incentivesto migrate to third-generation (3G), such as the Global Positioning System, considered one of the main drivingforces behind the spread of 3G networks around the world thanks to its ability to provide users with satellite-linkeddigital maps, as it will on the quality standards that are applied in the operation of these networks. 2(c) Classification of the Arab states according to selected indicatorsIt is no easy matter to classify the Arab states into groups according to the efforts they have expended and theresults they have achieved in their attempt to obtain and utilise ICT in building the knowledge economy. The datanecessary for undertaking a serious and objective evaluation are scarce and the methodologies of categorisationthat have been devised are numerous. Many of these methodologies are based on simplistic assumptions and leadto conflicting results. The various elements that go to make up the design of a particular indicator are frequentlyhandled as if they all have equal or similar effects when it comes to obtaining technology or spreading its use, whichputs limits on the accuracy of the results of the evaluation. Many of the indicators are basically designed to measurethe trend to purchase the goods and services linked to technology more than to measure how far it is utilised forthe production and dissemination of knowledge. Most are largely quantitative and numerical rather than qualitativeand descriptive and do not deal with how intensively and efficiently modes of technology are used to close theknowledge gap. To a great extent, they fail to measure knowledge content. Thus they do not permit an accuratediagnosis of the knowledge crisis in the Arab states or allow solutions to be drawn up.Tables c-1 and c-2 present the “basic” indicators related to the proliferation of telephones and computers,use of the internet, bandwidth, and access costs in the Arab states for which data is available. They make it clearthat the infrastructure provided and the material resources available do not necessarily correlate with usage. Moremeaningful methods of classification may be those that permit the evaluation of the Arab countries on the basisof the data available on the steps they have taken to formulate strategies and draw up plans aimed at developingtheir technological capabilities. According to such methodologies, states like the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar leadthe Arab countries, since they have abundant and integrated policies, strategies, plans, and projects for ICT whichare implemented with some alacrity. This is undoubtedly helped by their low populations, the availability of therequired resources, and the intensive follow-up at the highest decision-making levels to remove obstacles as theyoccur. The second group comprises states like Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia which have policies, strategies,plans, and programmes to sponsor and promote ICT, but whose implementation is slow because of obstaclesof a largely bureaucratic nature or because of the lack of resources that can be allotted to the technology sector,as in Jordan and Egypt. States such as Kuwait, Oman, Syria, and Lebanon, which have succeeded in laying downICT policies and strategies, but where the implementation plans and the programmes deriving from them remainincomplete, belong to the third group. The fourth group includes states such as Iraq, the Occupied PalestinianTerritories, Yemen, and Djibouti that are suffering from difficult conditions represented by political crises, securitydisturbances, or severe lack of resources, which limit the role of governments in the implementation of ICTpolicies and strategies.The Networked Readiness Index, which is monitored by the World Economic Forum, is connected to criterialinked to ICT policies and strategies. It expresses the extent of government commitment to develop this technologyand to allocate the necessary support to it (see Table c-3). On the basis of this categorisation, the UAE comesfirst out of the Arab states and in twenty-seventh place out of 134 states of the world. It is followed by Qatarin twenty-ninth place, then by Bahrain, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia in thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth, and fortiethplace respectively. The bottom three places for the Arab states included in the report went to Libya, Algeria, andMauritania in 101 st , 108 th , and 109 th place respectively.According to indicators of the World Economic Forum’s report on ICT 3 , the UAE comes top of the Arab statescovered by the report with respect to the first three indicators, although it fares less well on the encouragement of308 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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It has become clearthat the wager o
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Joint researchprojects among Arabsc
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Theoretically, themore researcherst
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Average expenditureon scientific re
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BOX 5-6Jordan’s “A Professor in
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BOX 5-8For the last three decades,
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FIGURE 5-7Published scientific arti
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A review of theperiod from 2002to 2
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Social scienceresearch holds aspeci
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Most Arabic-languageperiodicals in
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Arab societies arefilled with examp
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Human capitalis among Arabcountries
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TABLE 5-12Trade in technological pr
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It is ironic thatalthough the Arabw
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End Notes1UNESCO Institute for Stat
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CHAPTER SIXBUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE S
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The most conspicuousfeature of thek
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A review of nationalplans in the Ar
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The positiveachievements inthe Arab
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One of the keyfoundations of thevis
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Freedom andinstitutionalisationare
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Priorities are subjectto a great de
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If we admit thatlanguage is avehicl
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The major challengelies in changing
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Deployment is linkedto the creation
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The variousproposals includedin thi
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ReferencesReferences in Arabic‘Ab
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the President of the ICRC Expresses
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al-Duwal al-‘Arabiyya, UNESCO’s
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Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development asF
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Castells, Manuel. (1998/2001). LaSo
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the Age of Technology).• Binsa‘
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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 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
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