If the economy is the key factor in shaping life, maintaining leadership, and sustaining growth and prosperity, according to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, requires a transition to the age of the knowledge economy as soon as possible.
Indeed, hardly a moment goes by without that rapid pace of development and consolidation towards this new knowledge-based economy (the knowledge economy) and it seems clear that this development is growing in-line with the rhythms of the heartbeat, with speed and accuracy, and the characteristics of the traditional industrial economy, in the sense that it imposes on the economy new tasks, including the study and analysis of these great transformations, makes approaches to the challenges of interacting with knowledge societies objectively.
Knowledge, its ramifications, multiplicity, rapid transformation, and diversification, is the dynamic and active engine of this knowledge-based economy, and in turn, it calls for mobilizing high human skills to cover its needs, translating its interactions plus what is going on in its effects.
With this new orientation of the economy, 75 percent of the human capital employed in the field of advanced economies is about those who depend on them to use their minds and imagination to be vigilant, rather than using their hands and muscles. The third is the production and the creativity of knowledge; it is the process of transformation and change towards the establishment of the required knowledge society, as a knowledge-based economy, which is a condition for a transformation into a renewed and lasting knowledge society.
Knowledge generation is synonymous with the concept of “knowledge societies”, as society disseminates and invests in it to improve the productivity, lifestyle, and the quality of life of its citizens, in a renewed and continuous manner. An unemployed society is like a fire that does not light up, and for this reason, the transition to a “knowledge society” includes comprehensive social, cultural, economic, and institutional dimensions, so knowledge in this context encompasses diverse knowledge in all its fields and sectors, without exception.
However, the most important thing about the transition to the knowledge economy is not the knowledge economy per se, but the shift to a knowledge society. What is clear about this supposed shift towards the knowledge economy, and the development of the knowledge society, is that the challenges facing many countries (the most important of which are Arab) in the process of building their knowledge societies, and these include education and knowledge dissemination, since access to a knowledge-based economy requires the development of the education system at various stages, from early childhood, to post-university education, which in turn requires greater expansion and attention through the implementation of national programmes to prepare teachers, and the provision of laboratories and studios for the development of scientific and practical skills, in addition to the existence of an information and communication infrastructure in the field of education.
The trend towards knowledge is also reflected in the so-called cognitive content, which is one of the intangible assets of the economy, and, in this regard, some challenges arise, including, in terms of knowledge content, in the products and services, exports and imports, and in the digital form of the Internet.
Knowledge is also produced through three activities: scientific research, technical development, and innovation – and this must be multiplied in all sectors, with outcomes in line with the requirements of the national economy; this also involves many challenges, most notably, intensifying efforts to build the capacities necessary to absorb and work on knowledge, to increase the volume of research and development resources and physical and human innovations, to expand applied research, innovation and attention to knowledge.
Education, training and research and development are also a diversification of wealth into knowledge, and the challenge to achieve this is to support investment and increase knowledge activities in the public and private sectors, develop talent and creativity, and increase their programmes.
Knowledge management involves a range of challenges to address, including drawing up a road map in coordination with relevant stakeholders, adopting knowledge management systems, providing a variety of incentive packages to invest in knowledge-related activities, applying quality standards to improve the quality of work, and adopting digital indicators to measure progress.
The trend towards a knowledge-based economy also requires enhanced citizen interest in knowledge and its sources, as well as increased awareness of the importance of teamwork and the primacy of team spirit, since without this, it would be difficult to produce modern knowledge.
The most important thing that needs to be urbanized and absorbed is that technological development comes in conjunction with the orientation towards a knowledge-based economy. It is a task carried out by every employee in a team to which he belongs, in the sense that awareness must be made available to organizations that the unusual functions of AI applications, used by these institutions, are nothing more than a full-time grant to employees in those institutions to advance their performance for the better, and through the studies and activation of programmes carried out by the departments of the institutions. And to talk the rest.
Author : Manahel Thabet
Published October 30, 2017
Al Bayan Newspaper
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