UAE’s GDP will grow at between three to 3.5 per cent to reach AED 1.5 trillion in 2015, Sultan Saeed Nasser Al Mansoori, UAE’s Minister of Economy, said at the opening plenary of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council meeting that is currently underway in Abu Dhabi.
In his speech, the minister stressed on the UAE’s achievements in building a knowledge economy and said that the government is aiming to make the country among the most innovative societies in the world by 2021. Rest
The on demand sector has raised $9.4 billion since 2010, but most of this has come in the past 18 months. Funding for on-demand companies jumped 514 percent last year to $4.12 billion, and new investments in early 2015 have totaled at least $3.78 billion, according to venture capital research firm CB Insights. This is now moving beyond handy men and cleaners and into the knowledge economy.
We believe this boom marks the start of a significant new stage of change and disruption. As the smartphone is becoming the ubiquitous on demand platform, so it will deliver new labour services that challenge organisational design and our preconceptions on career structure across the knowledge economy.
The knowledge economy
… One of the most significant indicators that on-demand services are set to explode within the knowledge economy is Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Allowing customers to post any “human intelligence task”, giving access to a 24-7 global workforce only paying when you are satisfied with the results. From transcribing audio, editing video captions to reviewing websites.
… It seems clear that the on demand ‘craze’ is here to stay and is already spreading into the knowledge economy. Social and legal barriers to change are high, but economic, technology evolution and workforce motivation factors suggest we’re at the beginning of this revolution. Rest
But if Zuckerberg and Modi’s relationship can tie Facebook and India closer together, the nation could become an even bigger market for the social network while locals gain access to the knowledge economy. That could not only connect Indians, but improve the average citizen’s quality of life. Rest
In an effort to push Digital India initiative, Silicon Valley-based tech giant Qualcomm on Sunday said it will invest $150 million for Indian start-ups. “We share Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy,” Qualcomm executive chairman Paul E Jacobs said in his remarks at a dinner hosted in honour of Modi. Rest
The UK’s knowledge economy is now generating new businesses at four times the rate of the rest of the economy, according to international professional services firm, Procorre. Rest
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is granting 500 million euros, the first tranche of an approved loan amount of EUR 1.5 billion, to Hungary to co-finance priority projects receiving support from the European Regional Development Funds and the European Social Fund within the 2014-2020 EU programming period, EIB announced on Monday. On the one hand the EIB loan will back development of the knowledge economy, particularly RDI, higher education and ICT, and on the other it will contribute to improving education and employability, health and social inclusion. Rest
We also have the strength of the partnership between India and the United States.
Indians and Americans have worked together to shape the knowledge economy. They have made us aware of the vast potential of technology.
From large corporate to young professionals in this great centre of innovation, each can be part of the Digital India story.
The sustainable development of one-sixth of humanity will be a major force of good for our world and our planet.
Today, we speak of India-U.S. partnership as a defining partnership of this century. It hinges on two major reasons. Both converge here in California. [Ed. we can support this partnership by collaborating in building KnowledgeEconomy.IN, KnowledgeEconomy.US, and others]
The full text of Prime Minster Modi’s speech can be found here
As word of the new “Connectivity Declaration” spreads (see http://www.one.org/us/2015/09/26/the-connectivity-declaration-demanding-internet-access-for-all-and-implementation-of-the-global-goals/) spreads, I am reminded of Deloitte’s “Value of Connectivity” report. It was published early last year in collaboration with Facebook (they wrote the Foreword). The link to it at Internet.org is broken (ironic?) but Deloitte still has it on their site at http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/uk/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-uk-tmt-value-of-connectivity-tmt.pdf. 
Why am I so reminded? Because the first and last sentences of the Foreword read “The knowledge economy is the future of the world economy and the Internet is its backbone” and “At our core, we believe everyone, everywhere, should have the same opportunity and ability to be connected to each other and to connect to the knowledge economy.”
Facebook’s move into education may be unexpected, but it seems to be sincere. The project has won fans at the top of the organization, including the company’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, and its chief product officer, Chris Cox, who wrote the blog post todayannouncing the partnership. “This is personal for those of us working on the team here at Facebook,” Cox wrote. “Through our kids, our families, and the teachers in our lives, we’ve seen that there’s an opportunity to help apply our skills to the future of education, and we all wanted to find a way to help make an impact by doing what we do best — building software. With Summit, it’s starting to feel like we’ve found the perfect partnership.”
Still, there’s a nagging question of why Facebook would build what is essentially an internal nonprofit organization with seemingly little connection to its core mission. At one point, Facebook considered launching PLP as a stand-alone company working on its education efforts. But ultimately Zuckerberg decided he wanted the team to focus on building software, rather than mundane tasks like hunting for office space.
“THIS IS PERSONAL FOR US.”
Sego sees the connection between the core of Facebook and PLP this way. “We are aligned with the broader mission Facebook has to not just connect the world, but help make those connections improve people’s lives — and in many ways, grow the knowledge economy,” he says. Rest
September 22, 2015
His Excellency Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of the Republic of lndia
152 South Block
Raisina Hills, New Delhi 110011
Dear Prime Minister Modi,
We are honored to welcome you to the United States for the second consecutive year. Under your leadership, our bilateral relationship has been revitalized and India has undergone a domestic transformation while engaging with the world and continuing to serve as a democratic model.
Your visit to the United States provides an opportunity to reflect on the effects your leadership has had on the U.S.-India relationship over the last year. We applaud your and President Obama’s commitment to the strategic partnership which has already led to several accomplishments including the Delhi Declaration of Friendship, the adoption of a Joint Strategic Vision for Asia and Pacific and Indian Ocean region, and the announcement of renewal of the ten-year Defense Cooperation Agreement.
Close collaboration between our governments has led to progress in several areas including counterterrorism, non-proliferation, cyber-security, science and technology, knowledge economy, energy, space, and health to name just a few. Rest
He has mastered social media and has more than 15 million followers on Twitter — second only to President Obama among world leaders. And Modi has declared his intent to build a Digital India: a knowledge economy that delivers key government services electronically; all parts of the country are all connected with high-speed Internet networks; and the populace is digitally literate.
Considering that India has already become the largest growth market for smartphones and will, by the end of this decade, add more than 500 million Internet users, it is not surprising that the CEOs of Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Adobe are lining up to meet with Modi. Rest
Tyrone Pretorius (Vice Chancellor and Rector at University of the Western Cape) – …
These two agendas must be relentlessly driven so that the continent can be competitive in the global knowledge economy. They also present a useful opportunity to investigate how a ranking system can serve as a catalyst for collaboration rather than simply promoting competition.
Collaboration is key: it will help African universities to maximise their output and impact in the context of limited resources. Universities could award joint PhDs to acknowledge and reward such collaboration.
[KnowledgeEconomy.Africa.com is available for use for this and/or similar pursuits]
India – In a bid to promote broadband growth in the country, the government is planning to link all the gram panchayats and rural areas through optical fibre cable network. Addressing the 11th National Summit e-governance and Digital India inclusive growth through digital empowerment by ASSOCHAM, Bharat Net chairman & MD Aruna Sundarajan said that the country was entering into a new era of digital empowerment. “Our digital project is a giant leap to bridge the digital divide between urban and the rural India by linking all the gram panchayats in the country through the common platform of optical fibre cable. Our vision is to transform our country into a knowledge economy.” … The vision of Digital India aims to transform the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. Link
Alaska – It’s been less than two weeks since Jim Johnsen took the helm as president of the University of Alaska. And the transition in leadership is coming at a time when the university system is attempting to streamline and rethink the way it operates. Johnsen sees an opportunity amid the dark cloud of declining state funding and budget cuts throughout the University of Alaska system. “We play the single-most important role in creating a knowledge economy in Alaska,” he said. “And, so when I look long term, that’s the bright light that I’m looking at.” He sees that knowledge economy playing a pivotal role in helping Alaska diversify an economy that has been primarily based around oil. Link
Africa-Japan – The three-day Africa-Japan Business and Investment Forum continues today with presentations on issues related to quality infrastructure for Africa’s structural transformation; special dialogue on Africa-Japan partnership; financing for growth; creating a knowledge economy; building and expanding Africa’s trade gateways; creating sustainable solutions in the energy sector; shifting the paradigm from development to agriculture led-growth. Link