Knowledge Economy

Last month, universities from Ireland participated in the Education in Ireland fairs in New Delhi, Pune, Chennai and Bangalore. These fairs promote Irish higher education institutes in India. Patrick O’ Riordan, Enterprise Ireland—Director India/South Asia Commercial Section, Embassy of Ireland, explains Vikram Chaudhary of The Financial Express how Ireland has made huge advances in making its education system more open to the brightest and best young Indian minds. …

Qualities of the best venture teams in Ireland are that they are led by teams of promoters rather than individuals. Diversity of skills and experiences in Irish-based companies is very desirable and increasingly evident.

Innovation is at the heart of Ireland’s knowledge economy and there is a huge emphasis in inculcating an innovation mindset amongst students. Most Irish universities now offer and encourage entrepreneurship across STEM disciplines. This strategy is working with Ireland ranking first in the world for the availability of skills and fourth for the quality of its education system.  Link

The consensus among all participating speakers on day one was that information has become a tool for measuring power and excellence. And with knowledge noted as the basic pillar for advancement, it’s the youth who can help shape a country’s future.

“We will have a completely different future thanks to knowledge,” [Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation’s (MBRF) Managing Director, Jamal bin] Huwaireb said. “A much stronger one.”

Also championing the impact that youth can have on a nation’s knowledge economy was emphasised upon by Dr Khaled Al Hashash, founder and president of the Association of Islamic Economics.  …

Also speaking at the first session titled: ‘The transition towards knowledge-based economy between theory and reality’, vice-chancellor of the Higher Colleges of Technology, Dr Tayeb Kamali, said there is a real need for Arab countries to adopt the tools of technology to expedite the learning abilities of students. With this, a thriving knowledge-based economy can be reached.  Link

Google’s success with Chromebooks in the classroom has got to be making the folks at Apple quite worried, and it is not just about the hardware.  The growth of any knowledge economy depends in teachers and students working well together.  The following is an excerpt from the TechRepublic article: Chromebooks leapfrog iPads in US education market for first time, here’s why

Earlier this year, Google rolled out its Classroom tool, geared toward bettering organization and collaboration between students and teachers. Chromebooks weren’t exceptionally difficult to manage before, but Classroom further eases the process by connecting Google Docs, Drive, and Gmail in a unique way.

With Classroom, teachers can create specialized folders, organize assignments, communicate with students, and provide real-time feedback on student performance. Unfortunately, nothing native to the iPad provides the same service.

Canada and Chile commit to strengthening the global knowledge economy  Link

Tata, Temasek, and Ramot – India’s Tata Group and Singapore-based investment company Temasek have become the lead investors in a $23M fund to invest in “knowledge economy” innovations coming out of Ramot, the Tel Aviv University tech transfer company.  Ramot PR

States spending more on HE – In a time of frantic calls to raise the number of Americans with university degrees who will be needed to feed the globally competitive knowledge economy, only two states – North Dakota and Alaska – have increased spending per student on higher education, when adjusted for inflation, since the economic downturn, according to the independent Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.  Link

India – “India is at a ‘digital payments sweet spot’ because of a series of initiatives and enablers both at the government level and in the competitive private space,” said Christophe Vergne, leader of the Global Cards and Payments Center of Excellence at consulting firm, Capgemini. … “Meanwhile, India’s government is turning out to be a big enabler of digital payments; its Digital India program [to transform India into a knowledge economy] envisages a smartphone in the hand of every Indian by 2019.” Link

Partnering with Digital India – posted by US Assistant Secretary of State Charles Rivkin – Link

US promotes entrepreneurship to counter extremism  Link

Saudi Arabia Advanced Research Alliance (Saara) – As its first action, Saara has established Technovia, a new venture dedicated to maintaining a systematic, staged process to build a pipeline of commercialisation opportunities in Saudi Arabia. … Dr Jean-Lou Chameau, president, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology [KAUST], said: “Technovia will help accelerate KAUST’s economic and technology development impact on Saudi Arabia’s key national strategic priorities. This collaboration will become a platform for all research universities in the kingdom and offer Saudi-based and global companies opportunities to impact the knowledge economy within the nation.”  Link

Qatar Focuses its Research – Qatar’s long-term research aim is to transform the country’s hydrocarbon-driven economy into a knowledge-based economy—a term that was hotly debated at the Qatar Foundation research conference, held on November 18 and 19.  “We need to decide what we mean by a knowledge-based economy,” said Darwish Al Emadi, head of the Social and Economic Research Institute at Qatar University. “Do we want to continue being knowledge consumers who buy knowledge because [we] can afford it or do we want to be part of knowledge creation as well?  Focus on research is very important as part of this knowledge-creation process,” he added.  Link

Australia – Growth in the Victorian and Australian economies now depends on the growth in “knowledge economy” jobs. These jobs at the creative, productive, innovative edge of our economy are now firmly enmeshed in the dense centres of our cities. As the US urban economists Ed Glaeser and Richard Florida have shown, the knowledge economy depends on close interactions between creative people and those who can deliver projects. This work requires intensive spaces in cities, which in turn need intensive modes of transport to enable them. This means that rail, cycling and walking are critical to the knowledge economy. Although heavily into digital communications, knowledge economy workers need face-to-face contact and are now shifting back into central and inner city locations to optimise this process. In contrast, cars and trucks are dispersive modes of transport, and are needed for the consumption economy. These jobs are important too, but are essentially based in the dispersed spaces of the suburbs. These jobs are not the ones we are seeking as much as those in the knowledge economy, because they do not drive productivity growth as effectively.  Link

US Sen. Martin Heinrich’s Microlab Technology Commercialization Act of 2014 article Link

Note the date November 24th, 2014 – in the future of mankind in space it is going to be worth remembering.  This is the date that the first 3D component was printed in space.  Given the difficulties of making things in space through any other means, I suspect that much of our future existence in space or on Mars or any other alien world will depend on “things” being “printed” – as we move to the molecular level with this technology it will look like things are just made to appear in thin air (or in vacuum chambers more likely).
NASA completes first successful in-space 3D-printing project

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – With the advent of a knowledge economy developing in Saudi Arabia, Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, and Information Data Corporation (IDC) connected with CIOs and education leaders to demonstrate how the right smart E-education technology can help institutions improve the standards of education.

Being held at the Four Seasons in Riyadh, the IDC Smart Education Summit will address how the emergence of BYOD, connected learning, cloud services, software defined networking and big data analytics has the ability to revolutionize education and make learning more interactive for Saudi students.

As the country moves closer to developing a true knowledge-based economy, the Smart Education Summit follows a recent IDC report, which announced that ICT spending in the KSA Education sector is set to increase between 2013 and 2018 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2 percent.  Link

‘Smartest cities’ in America – Seattle is ranked No. 9 in Forbes’ 2014 list of “America’s smartest cities,” a list dominated by cities with major universities former industrial cities that have transitioned to knowledge economies. … Raleigh, N.C., at the heart of a “knowledge triangle” of universities and high tech companies, is No. 7 on the list.  Link

South Africa – I was cornered in the lift this week by a student who piped up in a typical Wits-cheeky manner: “So, Prof Habib, I heard you on radio yesterday announcing that Wits has received R100-million from an anonymous donor. Does this mean that my student fees are covered for the next few years?”  “No,” I replied, “We need more funds. All universities in South Africa need more funding if we are to develop as a sector and contribute towards the development of high-level skills in our country.”  I did remind him that he was indeed one of the privileged few to make it to university, and that he had a responsibility to give back to his university and to society for receiving a world-class education.  Universities have the responsibility to align their priorities with those of the country and the continent, to foster socioeconomic development, and to produce the high-level skills required to compete in the global knowledge economy, or risk being left behind.  Link

South Africa – We asked Morwane about how current ICT innovation in the country would boost education, economic development, job creation and other core issues: “The National Development Plan sees ICT by 2030 underpinning a dynamic, inclusive and prosperous information society and knowledge economy, in which a seamless information infrastructure will meet the needs of citizens, business and the public sector, providing access to a wide range of services required for effective economic and social participation at a cost and quality at least equal to South Africa’s competitors… The ICT Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap derived a vision for a South Africa that has overcome a digital divide and created a digital advantage.”  Link

Canada – “By connecting students with local businesses, this centre will provide students with the hands-on applied learning they need in the 21st century knowledge economy, while boosting productivity for manufacturers,” said [Reza Moridi, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities].  Link

Malaysia – [Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak] also called for green industries to deliver jobs and help Malaysia create a deeper knowledge economy‎ to help young entrepreneurs acquire skills and support their needs.  Link

Turkey – [Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu takes over the rotating presidency of the G20]  What we could expect in the coming months is a tense process of public-private dialogue and collaboration in different sectors to increase the local value added to manufacturing production, decrease import dependency of productive sectors, improve energy efficiency and build the foundations of a knowledge economy.  Link

UAE – Dubai will invest Dh4.5bn to make the emirate an innovation hub for global tech businesses and entrepreneurs -The plan was announced at a ceremony oia, Kenya, and Polandn Monday to mark the 15th anniversary of DIC, the first non-industrial free zone, attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.  “Dubai Internet City has supported the transformation of our national economy into a knowledge economy,” Sheikh Mohammed said. “We have kept pace with great changes in technology. Now the time has come for Internet City to become a creator of change.  Link

UAE – Speaking about the UAE knowledge and innovation initiative, INNOVATIVE, Al Mansouri said, “We target to acquaint the economy for a step further towards INNOVATIVE. In this regard, it is our aim to have a 5 per cent contribution from knowledge economy and innovation to the GDP by 2021.”  Link  [KnowledgeEconomy.com would be honored to help grow that contribution]

UAE – “His Highness had an insight. He foresaw the internet revolution in its earliest days, and it was that vision, which put our national economy on the path to become a globally recognised knowledge economy,” [Dubai Holding’s Chairman, Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi] said.  Link

UAE – On October 29, 2000, announcing the launch of Dubai Internet City, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said: “The test of success (of DIC) will be if businessmen find it more profitable to carry out their e-business from Dubai. There is no other test. This is the project. This is to be pursued with energy and efficiency.”  Dubai Internet City has sailed through the test, and is today the pillar of Dubai’s knowledge economy. It has served as home to over 1,400 businesses and providing employment to over 20,000 people, and has been a force of the city’s smart transformation.  Link

India – Stating that we are living in the age of the “knowledge economy“, [Nobel Peace prize winner Kailash] Satyarthi said that quality education is “the key to liberation which should empower an individual’s employability, significantly bringing down resentment in our society”.  Link

India – ICANN – Net user base growing fastest in India: Samiran Gupta – Earlier this year in August, India launched the IDN [Internationalized Domain Names] ‘dot bharat’ in Devanagari script covering eight languages. This is a huge step forward and, together with the “Digital India” programme, India looks set for the transformation into a connected knowledge economy.  Link

Kenya – Microsoft 4Afika – Kunle Awosika, Microsoft Kenya Country Manager, providing the rationale for the initiative said; “Unemployment is a challenge for many youth and initiatives such as EmployMentor can bridge the skills gap between academia and the working world. Through the 4Afrika Initiative, Microsoft aims to play an active role in the evolution of Africa from a labour-based economy to a knowledge economy by empowering local innovation, up-skilling youth with 21st century ICT skills and providing Internet access.”  Link

Poland – European Patent Office – In his welcome address to the conference, EPO President Benoît Battistelli said that patent information was becoming increasingly relevant, not only for the established IP community, but also for business, government and NGOs to inform their economic and political decision-making.  “In today’s globalised knowledge economy, the need for patent information is greater than ever,” said Mr Battistelli. “The EPO is committed to playing its part to ensure users have the best data in the most accessible way so they can take the best decisions and make optimal use of the patent system.”  Link

UAE – [Ahmed Saleh, regional manager of patents and design from Al Tamimi and Company] noted the diversification plan by the UAE and the building of a knowledge-based economy. “There is a lot of discussion about the creation of the knowledge economy and how to put knowledge to work in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. Especially following the recent announcement by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, of the ambitious “National Innovation Strategy”, said Dr Mohammed Al Mualla, senior vice-president for Research and Development at Khalifa University. “Diversification of the economy will increase opportunities for Emiratis at all education levels and strengthen the country… our hope is that Reyada can further define the path that the knowledge economy can take, and provide local researchers and entrepreneurs with the tools and tactics they need in order to thrive in this exciting new economy,” he added.  Link

Cardiff, UK – Tim Williams, chief executive of think tank Committee for Sydney, addressed a meeting of the Cardiff Breakfast Club. Mr Williams said: “Cardiff is developing and has a bright future. Cities are attractive because they create knowledge transfers and economic outcomes and are gaining more importance in the knowledge economy.” Link

Nigeria – Vice- Chancellor of Bells University of Technology, Ota, Prof. Isaac Adeyemi observed that economic research, Innovation and education were key factors of knowledge economy. Adeyemi noted that knowledge economy was gradually ruling the world, adding that Nigeria must trade on such path if it desires to occupy its rightful position in the committee of nations. He added that the Bells University was following the path by breeding the next generation of Africa’s leaders well-grounded in ICT and other modern technology needed to excel in the society.  Link

Kentucky – Kentucky’s historic commitment to research, however, is at some risk. But if we want a competitive, innovative economy we need to continue to invest in programs like Bucks for Brains, and to support the commercialization of research which will lead to the creation of knowledge economy jobs in the agriculture, energy, technology, health, advanced manufacturing and business sectors. Continuing to invest in research and innovation is critical to our state’s economic future.  Link

Singapore – Singapore’s Senior Minister of State in the Law and Education Ministries Indranee Rajah, the chief guest at the event, noted that the quiz was one of the many ways Tata reaches out to the community, in particular the youths. “From the time that Tata Group was established in Singapore in early 1970s, they have stuck to their values, made efforts to engage the community even as they have expanded their business footprint here,” Rajah said. She said in addition to the quiz there was also the Tata International Internship programme which since 2007 has provided a platform for Singapore youths to gain deeper understanding of India. The quiz was conducted by Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramanium, the founder and chief executive officer of Greycaps India Pvt Ltd, India’s third largest on stage quizzing and knowledge service provider. “We are moving into knowledge economy and today’s youngsters clearly understand that knowledge prowess is the game changer for their career,” Balasubramaniam said.  Link

ITU (International Telecommunication Union) – Secretary-General Hamadoun I. Touré said “It is very encouraging to see such informed and energetic contributions to our main policy-making conference processes. Young people are not just the future of this sector, they are a current force of creators, entrepreneurs and consumers and we stand to benefit the more we can integrate their voices and insights into policies that will guide our sector towards the future knowledge economy.”  Link

Pittsburgh – That city’s renewal also illustrates how the prosperity of a competitive region is coupled with the education of its residents and the preparation of its workforce. Bringing skilled individuals to work and live in proximity facilitates global reach and scale for the local economy. In a knowledge economy, competition is ubiquitous. Education leads to growth but a region growing in prosperity must compete to attract educated workers from elsewhere.  Link  [post by Ishwar Puri, Dean of Engineering at McMaster University]

UK – Sir David said: “Improving connectivity is vital if Britain is to compete in the knowledge economy in which this country has a competitive advantage, but in which ease of travel is an essential element.

“Knowledge-based companies whether they are in high-tech manufacturing, the creative industries, finance or the law, have to be close, or feel close, to the talent, skills base, support network, knowledge pools, collaborators and clients necessary to create the “hot-house atmosphere” in which they thrive.

“That is why reducing the journey times between and within our cities isn’t just desirable for both passengers and freight. It is a strategic necessity.”  Link

UAE – H.E. [Sultan bin Saeed] Al Mansoori, [Ministry of the Economy – opening Global Trade Development Week 2014] also pointed out the UAE knowledge and innovation initiative, INNOVATIVE, “we target to acquaint the economy for a step further towards INNOVATIVE. In this regard, it is the aim of The UAE to have a 5% contribution from knowledge economy and innovation to the GDP by 2021.” Link

UAE – The two-part meeting included discussions on [Abu Dhabi Technology Development Ccommittee’s] strategic efforts and commitment to establish a vibrant Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) base in the Emirates as part of Abu Dhabi’s drive towards building a diversified knowledge economy. In return, the BAST [Beijing Association of Science and Technology] delegation provided details about the remit of their organization and discussed a potential future collaboration with TDC on its science and promotion initiatives, specifically the Abu Dhabi Science Festival (ADSF) and the Abu Dhabi Science Center (ADSC), both of which are similar to planned activities in Beijing, China.  Link

South Africa – One area which the 2014-2015 [World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report] ranking indicates as needing attention is innovation, specifically technological innovation. This area is very important as, globally, knowledge creation and the application of that knowledge in the creation of new products and services, is becoming a significant contributor to countries’ economic performance. This indicator is also significant in the context of South Africa having adopted, as a strategic intent, the move towards a knowledge economy.  Link

Arkansas – The Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub in North Little Rock and its efforts to foster innovation, entrepreneurship and access to the “knowledge” economy were lauded in the just-released 2014 State of the South report from MDC, a nonprofit organization based in Durham, N.C. Founded as Manpower Development Corporation in 1967, MDC annually publishes the report focusing on educational and vocational challenges facing the South. … The 2014 report — available here (PDF) — says Arkansas must continue growing access to knowledge-based jobs in the state.  Link

UK (Scotland) – The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) reported last week that the UK needs an additional 87,000 engineering graduates by 2020. Engineering and the knowledge economy remain a massive opportunity for our economy and our young people; which takes me back to Dundee.  Link

Lebanon – “The central bank will have another incentive program of one billion dollars and we will be aggressively engaged in the promotion of knowledge economy,” [Riad] Salameh [central bank governor] said.  Link

Lebanon – Beirut – The signing ceremony of the IMPACT Fund occurred on October 24, 2014, representing a major milestone for Lebanon’s Venture Capital scene. With investor commitments in excess of $50 million, the IMPACT Fund is by far the largest Venture Capital fund in Lebanon, and notably the first fund to comply with Banque du Liban’s (BDL) Intermediate Circular 331. The Circular was created by BDL specifically to support the growth of Lebanon’s Knowledge Economy, a sector that is expected to materially improve High Tech employment in Lebanon.

The investment subsidy program outlined in the Intermediate Circular 331 is available only to Lebanese Banks; the program encourages Lebanese Banks to invest early stage equity capital in Lebanon’s Knowledge Economy by providing the Banks with an upfront 75% equity capital subsidy coupled with a 75% downside protection over an investment horizon of 7 years.  Link

UAE – His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has endorsed the 2015-2021 plan of the Ministry of Education, that stresses innovation as a key factor in the coming years.

He also directed speeding up the plan’s implementation, stressing the importance of developing the educational process in the UAE widening its concept and bringing it on par with modern scientific ideas, thus leading to innovation in the sector to attain the objectives of the national agenda indicators as given in the UAE Vision 2021.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, while launching the strategy, said, “Thanks to the keen interest shown by the President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the field of education, the coming years will witness a complete change in the educational system, which would basically be built on innovation and will be aligned with the national strategy of innovation.” He added that the strategy focuses on knowledge integration in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and other fields, all of which contribute towards strengthening the knowledge economy. …

He also urged educators to pay extra attention to talented students at all schools and stages, stressing that educational plans should keep pace with developments in other sectors and must help build a national knowledge-based economy.  Link