Knowledge Economy

Here is an excellent Forbes article about a recent OECD report.  “With sweeping advances in technology over the last two decade business has become increasingly globalized and knowledge-based. Buildings, equipment, and workers are no longer the central drivers of growth. Now innovation, advanced organization, design (think Steve Jobs and Apple), and communication are the keys to economic prominence. …  A new 362-page OECD report “Supporting Investment in Knowledge Capital, Growth and Innovation” provides a fascinating and useful overview of the new face of the world economy. It also is full of (admittedly preliminary) policy ideas to promote growth in a knowledge-based economy.”

A yearly “scorecard” that tracks the region’s economic progress shows that greater Charleston continues to outperform South Carolina and the nation in some key areas. The 2013 report released Thursday also pointed out lingering long-term challenges that need to be addressed “to maintain positive momentum,” such as transportation and education. “Charleston’s regional economy is performing well overall, while also undergoing a significant transformation into a more diversified, knowledge-based economy,” according to the scorecard.  Rest of Post and Courier article

The Mark Zuckerberg interview with James Bennet of The Atlantic is at http://www.theatlantic.com/events/archive/2013/09/watch-mark-zuckerberg-talk-with-i-atlantic-i-editor-in-chief-james-bennet/279787/ – the best part begins about 13 minutes into it and runs for about 3 minutes – spoiler alert: Mark may be setting us up for a third party in America – not Republican, not Democrat, but the Knowledge Economy party

The first full day of the conference is done.  The day kicked off with excellent keynotes from H.E. Dr. Tawfig Alrabiah, Saudi Arabian Minister of Commerce and Industry, and from The Hon. Penny Pritzker, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and both speakers noted Saudi Arabia’s drive to become more of a knowledge-based economy.

Secretary Pritzker noted “The Saudi economy is diversifying into fields like education, technology, and financial services. And the Saudi government is making transformative investments.  U.S. businesses stand ready to partner with Saudi Arabia at this exciting moment – as it moves to become a more knowledge-based economy.”

H.E. Minister Alrabiah was equally eloquent in his comments regarding the successes of the Saudi economy and his complete remarks can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/74754509.  “Under the leadership and vision of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia has been focusing more and more on promoting the transfer of know-how and technology to diversify outside the hydrocarbon sector. We are building today the foundations of a sustainable, long-term commercial and industrial relationship with our partners. The United States is host to almost half of all Saudi students studying abroad, helping fulfill King Abdullah’s vision of creating a knowledge economy.”

Facebook apparently had a great second quarter because the stock price jumped about 25% (about $7.00) yesterday.  In the second quarter earning conference call two days ago, Mark Zuckerberg listed three main goals for Facebook for the next 5 or 10 years (quotes from transcript of the call that can be downloaded from http://investor.fb.com/eventdetail.cfm?EventID=132054):

“One of the questions I frequently get asked are, what are the big changes we want to make in the world over the next five or 10 years? Now that we’ve connected a billion people, what are the next big ambitions? There are three main goals I’d like us to achieve. Connect everyone, understand the world, and help build the knowledge economy. Connecting everyone is about growing our community to reach the next 5 billion people. …

Understanding the world is about helping people share not just day-to-day updates like text messages and photos but also building up long-term knowledge about the world …

Building the knowledge economy is about helping people create companies and jobs using information. The way I see our advertising product, we aren’t just building a strong monetization engine for our company, we’re creating tools to enable new growth to jobs and businesses through our platform and to support a larger economic shift in the world based on knowledge and information.”

UAE – The National:  While oil wealth may generate significant income for a state, it is essentially its people that can ensure its future and security for generations to come.  Investment in human capital has been highlighted as one of the key pillars for the economic visions of many of the Arabian Gulf states. The UAE Government in particular has been encouraging both the public and private sectors to develop local talent through Emiratisation and other human capital efforts. From the energy sector and high-tech industries to media and the arts, local and international firms have been investing in developing Emirati talent for the future as a knowledge-based economy.  “On the front lines of developing our future knowledge economy, corporations have a clear sense of where talent will be needed five-10 years in the future and can take targeted and measured approaches to meeting those needs,” says Hanan Harhara, the head of human capital at the Advanced Technology Investment Company (Atic), a subsidiary of Mubadala.  Rest of article

Intel – HPC – The Essential Tool for a Knowledge Economy

In this video from the Intel Datacenter Day, Raj Hazra presents: HPC – The Essential Tool for a Knowledge Economy. Hazra describes how HPC has become a fundamental capability for Discovery & Insight and how Intel is investing broadly to address future needs.

Biotech To Drive Knowledge-based Economy

The United Nations recently convened a daylong debate among experts to examine how to promote entrepreneurship as a tool for eradicating poverty, generating wealth and improving lives. The General Assembly in New York was streamed live at http://webtv.un.org.  Thom Ruhe, vice president for entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, spoke about the importance of entrepreneurship education.  The Kauffman Foundation has provided a link here to Thom’s remarks.  The UN is following through on a mandate from its Entrepreneurship for Development resolution that encourages all UN-related bodies to “recognize and integrate entrepreneurship in its various forms into their policies, programs and reports, and to support national efforts in this regard.”  The objectives outlined in the UN resolution align closely with those of Global Entrepreneurship Week, the world’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship that will be held this Nov. 18-24

Rabat, June 4, 2013 – A new World Bank-CMI-EIB and ISESCO report titled “Transforming Arab Economies: Traveling the Knowledge and Innovation Road” shows how an economy based on innovation and knowledge can help promote greater economic growth and spur competitiveness. The report, launched today in Rabat at an event organized with the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), underlines that greater investment in a knowledge-economy model will be needed to meet the job creation challenge common to the region.

“We hope this report can help countries of the Arab world imagine a new kind of development strategy with a knowledge and innovation-driven model at its very heart,” said Inger Andersen, Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa at the World Bank. “The report lays out helpfully how this approach can help Arab countries diversify their economies and innovate, creating new enterprises and jobs.”   …

Many Arab countries have made progress over the last decade in terms of rolling out education access and information and communication technologies (ICT), gradually improving the institutional environment for private-sector led growth. Morocco and Tunisia have worked to support innovation, especially through the creation of technoparks and industrial zones that have attracted foreign direct investment and advanced manufacturing operations.  Jordan has embarked on a major effort to transform the education system at the early childhood, basic, and secondary levels to produce graduates with the skills needed for the knowledge economy.  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has launched a host of education reforms and has invested in the development of new universities, especially to boost science and technology.

The report describes how engaging in a knowledge-economy model involves the implementation of a number of key cross-sectoral reforms that can create an incentivizing environment for innovation and growth. This would require the adoption of a combination of policies, including developing more open and entrepreneurial economies, preparing a more skilled labor force, improving innovation and research capabilities, and expanding information and communication technologies (ICT) and their applications.   Rest