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Arab Knowledge
Report 2009
Towards Productive Intercommunication for Knowledge
Arab Knowledge
Report 2009
Towards Productive Intercommunication for Knowledge
This Report has been produced through joint sponsorship and support of the
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) and the United Nations
Development Programme/ Regional Bureau for Arab States (UNDP/RBAS)
The analysis and policy recommendations of this Report do not necessarily reflect the
views of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation or the United Nations
Development Pogramme, its Executive Board Members or UN Member States. The Report
is the work of an independent team of authors jointly sponsored by Mohammed bin
Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and the Regional Bureau for Arab States, UNDP.
This work was originally published in Arabic. In case of discrepancy, the original language shall take precedence.
Foreword by the Chairman of the Board,
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Foundation
I
This year’s report may perhaps establishing the desired knowledge society.
best be described as a thoroughgoing We may not all agree on what is to be
methodological and scholarly effort to found in this report. The goal, however,
study Arab knowledge in great detail, is to instigate constructive discussion that
up to the point of its deployment in will lead to adoption and application of
the service of the Arab individual. The policies and programmes that will translate
aim is to furnish the Arab decision-maker, its insights from the realm of reporting to
specialist, and citizen with a reference study that of effective actions on behalf of Arab
that includes reliable indicators by which societies capable of bringing about their
to measure the condition of knowledge in wellbeing and self-esteem.
the Arab countries and thus assist with the This work of ours will neither be
development of plans and the assessment completed nor born fruit without the
of performance and to kindle the spirit of cooperation of all—governments, civil
competitiveness in a field in which this is society, and specialists from different
of the essence. parts of the Arab homeland. From this
The Report departs from the norm in perspective, I sincerely call on all involved,
formulating a daring proposed vision and and indeed on all concerned parties, to
work plan for the establishment of the peruse these reports and subject them to
knowledge society that embrace primary discussion, critique, and fruitful debate,
elements and required mechanisms likely with the express goal of creating the
to be of use in filling in the numerous gaps means of putting into practice, whether
that dot the Arab knowledge landscape at an Arab regional or an individual
and in leading us through the portals of country level, the ideas resulting from this
knowledge so that we may engage with interactive process.
its society and participate in its processes It also gives me great pleasure, in
of production. The Report also opens for this context, to express my thanks and
general discussion, critique, and review a appreciation to the United Nations
proposed vision of work and action along Development Programme’s Regional
three axes—the provision of enabling Bureau for Arab States and in particular
environments; the transfer, indigenisation the report team in Dubai, as well as to
and implantation of knowledge and then all those—thinkers, writers, editors, and
its deployment in the service of Arab technical personnel—who participated
human development. in bringing this report into being. I look
The series of Arab Knowledge reports forward to further fruitful collaboration
constitutes a cultural podium prepared by to reinforce the foundations of the
an elite of Arab specialists and intellectuals intellectual edifice of knowledge in this
whose objective will be to ponder the region and secure the mainstays of the
state of Arab knowledge and suggest human development to which the Arab
the methods most likely to succeed in world aspires.
II
Foreword by the Regional Director,
UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States
With the publication of this first report on The diagnostic analysis contained in
knowledge in the Arab region, the United this first report on Arab knowledge shows
Nations Development Programme/ that some progress has been made in the
Regional Bureau for Arab States and the outward forms of knowledge in the Arab
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum world. It has also made plain, however,
Foundation inaugurate what may be the existence of numerous gaps that must
considered one of the most ambitious and be addressed, seriously and resolutely,
competent projects to build and reinforce if we wish to establish a society capable
the knowledge society in the Arab region of producing knowledge. We endorse the
and to implant there its epistemological, Report’s assumption that the ground lost
intellectual, and cultural principles, in all by the Arabs in the knowledge field can be
their dimensions. This report represents a made up, provided, first, that the aspiration
first step in a strategic partnership, of which to do so is there, along with the political
we are proud, between our development will, supported by the allocation of the
programme and that pioneering resources needed to build the enabling
enlightenment foundation established environments and the institutions capable
at the initiative of His Highness Sheikh of nurturing progress in knowledge and
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice the conversion of the gains achieved into
President, Prime Minister of the United means to realise comprehensive human
Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, and development.
for which generous resources have been The Report presents a number of
allocated. important analyses of the conditions of
While this report extends and goes knowledge in the Arab region. We agree
deeper into the issues presented by the that these must be dealt with urgently. It
Arab Human Development Report 2003, expatiates on monitoring the situation of
which addressed the subject of knowledge the most important pillars of the hoped-
as one of the most important of the for knowledge society and dedicated special
three challenges facing the Arab region in attention to knowledge capital, making
addition to protection of freedoms and clear in so doing the large discrepancy in
women empowerment; the co-publication capital acquired through education, not
of this series of reports on Arab knowledge only among the Arab countries themselves
demonstrates the harmoniousness and but within each individual Arab state
accord of the efforts of the United and between males and females, as well
Nations Development Programme and as between young people and adults.
the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum On the question of Information and
Foundation, their shared dedication to a Communications Technology (ICT),
single goal, and the exalted nature of their which constitutes a central pillar for the
mission and objective. All of these form knowledge society, a set of proposals and
a part of the range of regional and global initiatives have been formulated that will
effort in this field. help to improve the current situation of
III
ICT in the Arab countries and reinforce and through productive and creative
its importance in the health, economic, integration. This vision therefore suggests
social, and fields of knowledge in an achievable plan that includes markers
general. The report also emphasises that along the route to an intercommunication
a revitalisation of the Arabic language is that will lead to integration into spaces of
required to make it capable of mastering knowledge that fly the flag of humanity
Arabic epistemological and digital content. and human intelligence, for the sake of
The writers of the Report focus on the partnership and creativity in the Arab
fact that the tasks designed to provide the societies.
optimal investment of ICT in the building The Arab Knowledge Report 2009–
of the Arab knowledge society lie beyond Towards Productive Intercommunication
the means of individual Arab states and for Knowledge has laid the foundation
make plain the necessity of mastering and for a practical treatment of this issue
deploying modern technology through based on properly documented facts and
cooperation both within Arab countries and a realistic view of the building of the
with their regional and global partners. knowledge society. We look forward to
The Report also touches on the subject future reports that treat, through research
of the innovation that, in reinforcing and more profound study, the chief
all that helps humankind transcend elements along the path to the building of
obstacles and constraints, enriches both the hoped-for knowledge society; from the
the emotions and the mind. It is made firm grounding of enabling environments
clear that the concept of innovation and the transfer and indigenisation of
sanctioned in the Report goes beyond the knowledge to its optimal deployment in
significations of the term “inventiveness,” the service of human development.
which is linked fundamentally to the purely Space will allow me here to do no more
technical field and its tools, to embrace the than express my thanks and appreciation
Arab particularities of innovation in the to all those who shared in the realisation of
arts, literature, and the human and social this report, including the writers, advisers,
sciences. The Report presents a set of coordinators, and editing teams, as well
proposals on how to instigate innovation as the work teams at both the United
and tie it in to the various fields of Nations Development Programme and
production. the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum
The select group of thinkers and Foundation. It also gives me special
scholars from all parts of the Arab region pleasure to express my gratitude to His
who have participated in the writing of Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
this report justly acknowledge that their Al Maktoum for his help and support for
various proposals, which encapsulate a this series of reports on knowledge in the
vision for the building of the knowledge Arab region, and to declare my hope that the
society in the Arab homeland, favour collaboration between us in all matters that
the spirit and the options of human enrich and deepen the Arab knowledge and
development. Special weight is given in cultural base and strengthen the outlook
the Report to defence of the principle for sustainable human development in the
of intercommunication both inside and Arab homeland and the world as a whole
outside the region, through partnership will continue.
IV
Report Team
(Alphabetically)
V
CONTENTS
PREAMBLE 1
Introduction 1
Preliminaries to the Report 2
The dialectics of the Report 2
The topics of the Report 3
The Theoretical Framework: concepts and problematics of the knowledge society (Chapter 1) 4
Arab Knowledge Performance Environments: expanding freedoms and building institutions (Chapter 2) 4
Education and the formation of knowledge capital (Chapter 3) 5
Information and Communications Technologies in the Arab Countries: the pillars and tools of 6
knowledge (Chapter 4)
Arab research and innovation performance (Chapter 5) 6
Building the Knowledge Society in the Arab Nation: a vision and a plan (Chapter 6) 7
The Arab nation and the world in 2009 9
The state of human development in the Arab region 9
Concepts and indicators of Arab human development 9
The most important evolutions in Arab human development 9
Governance and the weakness of institutional performance 13
Variables exerting pressure on the Arab knowledge scene 13
War, occupation, internal conflict, and the disruption of knowledge 13
Extremism and its effect on the knowledge society 16
The stagnation of political reform and its effect on the enabling environment for knowledge 17
The world financial crisis: opportunities and challenges for the establishment of the 18
knowledge society
Overview of the current knowledge situation in the Arab region 20
CHAPTER 1 27
THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: CONCEPTS AND PROBLEMATICS
OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY
Introduction 27
Premises and principles: The knowledge-development-freedom triad 27
The conceptual building blocks 28
From knowledge to knowledge society 28
The development of the concept of knowledge in Arab culture 28
The interaction and intersection of concepts 30
Poles of the knowledge society: the society-economy-technology triad 31
The networked society: the most conspicuous feature of the knowledge society 34
The knowledge society: towards expanding choices for renaissance and development 35
The basic frame of reference for the knowledge society 36
The positivist trend: the quantitative orientation 38
The political modernisation mindset: evoking human rights 39
Problematic issues of the knowledge society 41
The knowledge society and expanding political participation 42
The knowledge society and identity 44
The Arabic language and the challenges of information technology 46
The knowledge society and Arab women 48
Information technologies and virtual spaces 50
VI
The knowledge society and the legitimacy of a new ethical code 52
Conclusion 54
CHAPTER 2 59
ARAB KNOWLEDGE PERFORMANCE ENVIRONMENTS:
EXPANDING FREEDOMS AND BUILDING INSTITUTIONS
Introduction 59
The state of knowledge environments in the Arab world: constraints and pressures 60
Political environments: the paradox of political reform discourse and the decline in freedoms 61
Expanding political participation: the path to knowledge and creativity 61
Continued curbing of public freedoms 64
Freedom of opinion and expression: additional restrictions 64
Arab Media and government hegemony 65
Economic environments: towards responsible freedom and a balanced economy 67
Measuring economic freedoms 68
Toward expanding economic freedoms 68
The oil boom did not foster economic freedom as hoped 70
Media, cultural, and social environments 75
Poverty and social marginalisation 75
Trends towards religious radicalism and intolerance 76
Freedom of intellectual property 77
Global debate, Arab absence 78
Regulating intellectual property in the Arab world: disparity and occasional exaggeration 79
Challenges and opportunities for access to knowledge 81
Opportunities for creative Arab cooperation 81
Summary: Freedoms: A comprehensive cluster or disparate elements? 82
From nurturing environments to supporting institutions 83
Pioneering institutions and shining examples 84
Legislation as the way to support institutionalism 87
On the need for an alternative index: a project in critique and transcendence 89
Peering into the future: Trajectories of the enabling environment 90
CHAPTER 3 97
EDUCATION AND THE FORMATION OF KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL
Introduction 97
The general state of knowledge as provided through education in the Arab countries 98
The need to draw an accurate picture of knowledge capital 99
Measuring a society’s knowledge capital 99
Knowledge capital formation by children 101
Quantitative indicators 101
Qualitative indicators 104
Time allocated to school subjects in basic education 104
Quality of knowledge acquired through basic education 105
Knowledge capital formation by youth 107
Quantitative dimensions 107
Qualitative Indicators 110
General secondary education and the formation of knowledge capital by youth 111
Technical secondary education and the formation of knowledge capital by youth 111
The role of higher education in the formation of knowledge capital 112
VII
Quantitative indicators 112
Tertiary education and the formation of the specialised knowledge capital needed to meet 114
development needs
Distribution of undergraduate and graduate students by discipline 114
Qualifications of graduates 116
Knowledge capital acquired by adults through education 118
Knowledge capital required for participation in the knowledge society 121
Quantitative dimensions 121
Qualitative dimensions 123
Investing in the formation of human knowledge capital through education 123
Spending on education 124
National income and the formation of quantitative knowledge capital 124
National income and qualitative capital formation 126
Educational reform efforts 126
Conclusion 131
CHAPTER 4 143
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ARAB COUNTRIES:
THE PILLARS AND TOOLS OF KNOWLEDGE
Introduction 143
ICT in the Arab countries 144
The spread of computers and the internet 144
The Arabic language and the internet 149
Anticipated advances in ICT 151
Technology applications and Arabic digital content 153
Regulatory frameworks 153
The ICT sector in the Arab countries 154
Hardware production or assembly 154
The software industry 155
ICT applications and building the knowledge society 156
E-government services 156
ICT and education 159
E-commerce 162
Technology applications for healthcare 163
Technology and social development 163
Arabic digital content production 165
Arabic language internet content and problematics 167
Technological advance and future initiatives 171
Conclusion 173
CHAPTER 5 181
ARAB PERFORMANCE IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Introduction 181
Innovation and the knowledge economy 181
The correlation between Gross Domestic Product and innovation in the Arab region 183
Demographics and the challenge of inclusion of youth 183
Science and technology policies 184
Arab initiatives and strategies 185
The production and dissemination of scientific knowledge 185
VIII
Partnership with the private sector 186
The reality of Arab research centres 186
The capacity of research centres for innovation 189
The performance of Arab researchers 190
Science research funding in the Arab world 192
The outputs of Arab scientific research 196
Global engagement 199
Social science policies and artistic innovation 201
Social science research 202
The Arabic language and innovation 203
Literary and artistic innovation 204
The innovation gap and its indicators in the current state of Arab knowledge 206
The innovation gap 206
Flight of human capital 207
The social and economic impact of innovation 209
The dissemination of knowledge and innovation 211
Boosting Arab research and innovation performance 212
CHAPTER 6 219
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN
Introduction 219
The Arab knowledge gap: deficits and holes 219
The knowledge gap can be overcome 223
A proposed vision for building the knowledge society 225
Principles and foundations for movement towards the construction of the knowledge society 225
in the Arab world
Broadening the scope of freedom 225
Positive interaction with the growing needs of society 226
Openness and intercommunication 227
Proposed axes of action for the creation of the knowledge society 227
The first axis: the creation of enabling environments 228
The second axis: the transfer and indigenisation of knowledge 228
The third axis: deployment of knowledge 229
Axes and bases: intersection and interaction 229
Aspects of action towards building the components of the knowledge society 230
Action in the area of the enabling environment 230
Action in the field of transfer and indigenisation of the knowledge society 232
Action to deploy knowledge 235
Towards a new mechanism to measure Arab knowledge 237
The Arab knowledge index 237
Conclusion 238
REFERENCES 241
IX
LIST OF BOXES
Box 1 The Effect of the Financial Crisis on Development Funding 19
Box 1-1 The Concept of Knowledge 28
Box 1-2 “Knowledge” in al-Tahanawi’s “The Terminology of the Arts” 29
Box 1-3 A Linguistic Perspective on “Knowledge” 30
Box 1-4 The Power of Knowledge 34
Box 1-5 Building the Information Society: a global challenge in the new millennium 40
Box 1-6 Knowledge in an Age of Globalisation 44
Box 1-7 Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and Local Cultural Identities 45
Box 1-8 Women’s Freedom is a Key to Many Doors 48
Box 1-9 The Virtual as Interrogation of the Actual 50
Box 1-10 The Genome, a New Triumph for Knowledge 53
Box 2-1 The Contradictory Nature of Economic Freedom Indicators 72
Box 2-2 Towards Productive Intercommunication for Knowledge: Translation in the Age of al-Ma’mun 85
Box 2-3 The Legal Framework for the European Union 88
Box 3-1 The Aims of Education for All 101
Box 3-2 Oman’s New Plan for Education 106
Box 3-3 The Growing Numbers of Universities in the Arab Region 108
Box 3-4 The knowledge students should acquire: the contemporary French approach 112
Box 3-5 Expansion in General and Technical Secondary Education in Bahrain and 113
its Impact on Female Enrolment
Box 3-6 More PhDs Needed as University Teachers 114
Box 3-7 The Educational Level of Saudi Arabians 118
Box 3-8 The Contribution of Non-Public Schools to Education in the Arab Region 127
Box 3-9 Human Capital Formation to Meet the Needs of Instruction and Pedagogy 128
Box 3-10 The Lebanese Association for Educational Studies: a model for national and pan-Arab 130
networking for the development of educational knowledge
Box 4-1 Open Source Software and Educational Content 160
Box 4-2 Evaluating the Performance of Projects to Network Educational Institutions 161
Box 4-3 ICT and Local Development: Examples from Arab countries 164
Box 4-4 ICT Incubators and Arabic Digital Content 165
Box 4-5 Arabic Language Processing Systems: machine translation, grammar checking, and searching 168
Box 4-6 Digital Content in Entertainment and the Media 169
Box 4-7 Preserving Tradition through Digitalisation 170
Box 5-1 Official Arab Initiatives for Invigorating Research and Development 184
Box 5-2 A Policy for Science, Technology, and Innovation in Lebanon 185
Box 5-3 Expenditure on Research and Development 187
Box 5-4 Pioneering Arab Innovators in Genetic Science 191
Box 5-5 The Ten Commandments for Researchers in Low-income States 191
Box 5-6 Jordan’s “A Professor in Every Factory” 194
Box 5-7 The European Growth Strategy 195
Box 5-8 ICARDA 196
Box 5-9 Arab Innovators in Architecture and Music 205
Box 5-10 Knowledge Transfer via Migrant Scientists 208
Box 5-11 Corporate Funding of Research and Development 209
Box 6-1 Rationalist Critique and Historical Vision 224
Box 6-2 The Legitimacy of Ambition 227
Box 6-3 The Indigenisation of Science 234
Box 6-4 Scientific Progress and Social Progress 236
X
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Decline in human poverty rates by country (per cent): 1996-2007 11
Figure 2 Unemployment rate among Arab youth (A) and their share in total unemployment (B) 12
(per cent) in 2005/2006
Figure 1-1 The poles of the knowledge society 33
Figure 2-1 Press freedom in the Arab countries, 2008 62
Figure 2-2 Perceptions of corruption in the Arab World 2008 62
Figure 2-3 Perceptions of corruption 2003-2008 63
Figure 2-4 Distribution of Economic Freedom in Arab Countries, 2009 69
Figure 2-5 Average economic freedom index for seventeen Arab countries 69
Figure 2-6 Heritage economic freedom index for 2009, Arab countries-comparison countries 71
Figure 2-7 Fraser Institute index of economic freedom of Arab countries vs. comparison countries 72
Figure 2-8 Index of global competitiveness for Arab countries 73
Figure 2-9 Average growth of per capita GDP 74
Figure 2-10 Net exports of manufactured goods in Arab countries 75
Figure 3-1 Education and human resources index for Arab Countries (most recent statistical period 99
compared to 1995)
Figure 3-2 Basic knowledge capital formation opportunities for children in Arab countries against 104
per capita GDP
Figure 3-3 Advanced knowledge capital formation opportunites for Arab youth against per capita GDP 110
Figure 3-4 Adult knowledge capital acquired through education in Arab countries against per capita GDP 120
Figure 3-5 Actual (or expected) knowledge capital formed through education among different age groups 122
in Arab countries against per capita GDP
Figure 3-6a Maths performance of eighth-year students in Arab countries against per capita GDP 125
Figure 3-6b Math performance of eighth-year students in Arab countries against per capita GDP 125
(excluding Dubai)
Figure 3-7 Science performance of eighth-year students in Arab countries against per capita GDP 126
(excluding Dubai)
Figure 4-1 ICT index values for Arab countries and selected groups of non-Arab countries 145
(1995, most recent statistics with + and – change values)
Figure 4-2 Number of computers per 1,000 inhabitants, Arab region, and selected groups of 145
non-Arab countries
Figure 4-3 Internet users – Arab world, world, and selected non-Arab country groups by per 146
capita GDP
Figure 4-4 Bandwidth of global internet access for the Arab World and selected non-Arab country groups 147
Figure 4-5 Price basket for internet (in US dollars per month) in some Arab countries, worldwide, 148
and in selected non-Arab groups of countries by income
Figure 4-6 Language access to internet and ratio of speakers to total internet users 148
Figure 4-7 Growth of languages on the internet 2000-2008 150
Figure 4-8 Availability of e-government services (2006 values) 158
Figure 4-9 Change in business internet use plotted against per capita income in some Arab countries 162
and worldwide
Figure 4-10 Paper consumption worldwide and in some Arab countries by per capita GDP 166
Figure 4-11 Paper consumption and internet use worldwide and in some Arab countries, 2004-2005 167
Figure 5-1 Innovation system index for the most recent period in comparison to 1995 182
Figure 5-2 Innovation and development 182
Figure 5-3 Per capita GDP and the innovation system index 183
Figure 5-4 Arab-international cooperation in scientific dissemination, 2004 187
Figure 5-5 Arab participation in the European Union’s Sixth Framework Programme (2002-2006) 195
Figure 5-6 Number of scientific papers published in the Arab region 197
XI
Figure 5-7 Published scientific articles according to specialisation (1998-2007), based on Table5-7 198
Figure 5-8 Scientific impact of Arab publications 199
Figure 5-9 Percentage of Arabic language-use in research papers published in the Maghreb, 1980-2007 203
Figure 5-10Languages used in human and social science research publications in the Maghreb, 2007 203
Figure 6-1 Mechanism for movement towards the Arab knowledge society 226
Figure 6-2 Priorities for action to build the elements of the knowledge society in the Arab world 231
Figure 6-3 Priorities for action to build the elements of the knowledge society in the Arab world 233
Figure 6-4 Priorities for action to build the elements of the knowledge society in the Arab world 235
Figure A-1 The Knowledge Economy Index for the Arab countries 259
Figure A-2 Normalised values for indicators concerning knowledge for the Arab countries, the G7, 261
and the world
Figure A-3 Index values for the pillars of the knowledge economy for the Arab countries, the G7, 262
and the world
Figure A-4 The latest KEI compared to 1995 262
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Human development indicators for the Arab countries (2001 versus 2006) 9
Table 2 Population and GDP per capita in Arab countries (2008, projections) 10
Table 3 Incidence of extreme poverty in a sample of Arab countries 11
Table 4 The employment challenge: projected numbers of new jobs required 13
Table 2-1 Arab Countries that realised positive reforms in the field of business, 2007-2008 70
Table 2-2 Arab Countries according to their ties to trade agreements and intellectual property 79
Table 2-3 Rights and responsibilities of Arab members in the World Trade Organisation in the field of 80
copyright and access to knowledge
Table 3-1 Opportunities for basic knowledge capital formation in children through education in 2005 103
(per cent)
Table 3-2 Opportunities for the formation of knowledge capital by youth (ages 15-24) in Arab countries, 109
2005 (per cent)
Table 3-3 Comparison of overall results of students in Arab countries and students in USA on the 117
business administration test
Table 3-4 Comparison of overall results of students in Arab countries and students in USA on the 117
computer science test
Table 3-5 Estimated knowledge capital acquired through education among adults (25 to 50 years) 119
in Arab countries in 2008 (per cent)
Table 3-6 Summary of estimated quantitative capital obtained through education for the different age 121
strata of Arab societies in 2005 (per cent)
Table 4-1 Top ten languages used on the net (number of internet users by language) 149
Table 4-2 Readiness of Arab countries to adopt e-government applications 157
Table 4-3 Readiness to adopt e-government applications in some comparable countries 157
Table 5-1 The quality of Arab research institutions 189
Table 5-2 Ranking of Arab countries in the Assimilation of Technology index (out of 134 countries) 189
Table 5-3 The number of researchers in the Arab region 190
Table 5-4 Expenditure on research in the Arab region 193
Table 5-5 Expenditure on research and development and percentage contributions from private and 193
public sectors in comparison countries
Table 5-6 Number of scientific publications in selected Arab Countries 197
Table 5-7 Number of scientific articles published in the Arab world, 1998-2007 198
Table 5-8 Arab-international cooperation in scientific publishing 199
Table 5-9 Patents registration with the USPTO by seven Arab countries 201
Table 5-10 Sizes of cinema audiences and numbers of cinema screens, 2004-2005 205
Table 5-11 Human capital flight index 209
XII
Table 5-12Trade in technological products 210
Table A-1 Indicators of the knowledge economy index for the Arab countries 257
Table A-2 Knowledge Economy Index for the Arab countries compared to other countries 258
Table A-3 Economic performance and KEI indicators for the Arab countries compared with 260
the world’s geographic regions
Table A-4 Availability of knowledge indicators for the Arab countries included by the World Bank 264
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure b-1 Growth in average total number of telephone lines (fixed and mobile) 306
per thousand people plotted against per capita income for the world’s states,
some Arab states, and selected groups of states
Figure b-2 Growth in average number of fixed telephone lines per thousand people 307
plotted against per capita income for the world’s states, some Arab states,
and selected groups of states
Figure b-3 Growth in average number of mobile phone lines per thousand of population 307
plotted against per capita income for the world’s states, some Arab states,
and selected groups of states
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Total population, population growth, and proportion of children in the Arab region 271
Table 2 Human Development Indices 272
Table 3 Economic Indicators 273
Table 4 World Bank Knowledge Economy Index (most recent compared to 1995) 274
Table 5 Relationship of Arab market competitiveness with knowledge production 2008 275
Table 6 Worldwide governance indicators in the Arab region and comparison countries 2007 276
Table 7 Press Freedom Index in the Arab region 2008 277
Table 8 World Bank Economic Incentive and Institutional Regime Index 278
(most recent compared to 1995)
Table 9 Adult literacy rates by gender in the Arab states 1980 and 2005 279
Table 10 Gross enrolment ratio in secondary education in the Arab states by gender, 1980 and 2006 280
Table 11 Gross enrolment ratios in tertiary education in the Arab states by gender, 1980 and 2005 281
Table 12 World Bank Education and Human Resources Index (KAM) 282
(most recent compared to 1995)
Table 13 Adult illiterate population and children (of primary school age) out of school in 283
the Arab countries by gender 2007 (or closest two years)
Table 14 Regional literacy rates and gross enrolment in primary and the upper stage of 284
basic education 2007 (or the closest two years) in the Arab region and
the other regions of the world
Table 15 Ratios of gross enrolment in upper secondary and tertiary education and 284
average school life expectancy in the Arab countries and the other regions
of the world 2006 (or the closest two years)
Table 16 Net and gross enrolment in primary education and proportion of over-age pupils 285
for this stage 2006
Table 17 Gross enrolment ratios in upper stage of basic education by gender, average school 286
life expectancy, and number of years of compulsory education around the year 2005
Table 18 Lessons in basic education devoted to each subject as a proportion of all lessons (per cent) 287
Table 19 Time devoted to education in the two stages of basic education in the Arab states 288
Table 20 Literacy rates among young people (15-24 years of age) and gross enrolment in 289
upper secondary education by gender 2005
XIII
Table 21 Time devoted to secondary education in the Arab states 290
Table 22 Evolution of enrolment rates in vocational and technical secondary education in the 291
Arab states from 1970 till 2005 (per cent)
Table 23 Enrolment in tertiary education by level of study around 2005 (per cent) 292
Table 24 Student enrolment rates in tertiary education by field of specialisation 2005 (per cent) 293
Table 25 Number of specialists in the health fields in the Arab states 2005 (per thousand people) 294
Table 26 Distribution of graduates of tertiary education by field of specialisation around 2005 295
Table 27 School life expectancy in the Arab states from 1970 to 1990 (in years) 296
Table 28 Estimated educational level of people aged 25-50 in the Arab states 2005 297
Table 29 Government expenditure on education in the Arab countries in the five years 2002-2006 298
Table 30 Enrolment rates in non-government schools at pre-university educational stages in the Arab 299
countries 2005 (per cent)
Table 31 Number of students from some Arab countries in the US before and after the events of 300
September 2001
Table 32 Number of patents granted in the US in 2007 and spending on research and development 301
Table 33 World Bank Innovation System Index (most recent compared to 1995) 302
Table 34 Indicators on research and development activity and innovation in the Arab countries 303
and other country groups
Table 35 World Bank indicators for the Innovation System Index 304
Table a-1 World Bank ICT Index (most recent compared with 1995) 305
Table c-1 Classification of the Arab countries according to some indicators of ICT infrastructure. 309
Table c-2 Classification of the Arab countries according to internet use, access cost, and bandwidth 310
Table c-3 Ranking of some Arab countries according to networked readiness index (2008/2009) 310
Table c-4 Ranking of a group of Arab countries according to some criteria related to ICT policy 311
for 2008/2009
Table c-5 The Global Competitiveness Index and rank for some Arab states with respect to selected 311
pillars, 2008/2009
XIV
PREAMBLE
PREAMBLE 1
an internal debate that aspires to build and
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the
develop Arab knowledge performance. Compassionate
The Report has been careful to make Recite: In the name of thy Lord who created,
use of available data and to evaluate the created man of a blood-clot. Recite: And thy
Lord is Most Generous, who taught by the pen,
growth of the nuclei of an Arab knowledge taught Man that which he knew not.
society. It has also been keen to come to The Holy Qur’an, Surat al-‘Alaq (The Blood-clot)*
grips with the major problems that afflict
knowledge in our societies, whether in
The knowledge research, education, or the use of the Given the novelty of the subject and of
field and revolution new technological mediums that underlie the horizons it is unceasingly opening
today form an today’s knowledge networks. up in the various fields of knowledge,
Crucial to the Report is the idea that the Report seeks to work on two fronts: a
avenue for reform
the local and particular should be taken as description of the state of knowledge in the
in the Arab world the starting point for speculation about the Arab world and a sketch of some aspirations
universal and worldwide generalisation of to overcome the flaws observed. The
gains in knowledge. This concern is not the Report thus combines the identification
result of any desire to deny the universal of the faults in knowledge performance
gains in knowledge but has been adopted with the formulation of defined proposals,
because it supports the indigenisation which, when implemented, will help to fill
and reproduction of these gains. The some of those gaps.
goal is to achieve creative participation in
them and transcending the various aspects
of knowledge commoditisation and The Report starts with the principle of the right
to knowledge, which it considers non-negotiable,
consumption. especially in an Arab world most of which still
Another dominating idea forms part suffers from knowledge and digital illiteracy.
of this Report: that the knowledge field Knowledge is also perceived of as a tool and an
and revolution today form an avenue for outcome of development. The Report links the
right to knowledge and development to hopes
reform in the Arab world. Hence, the for renaissance and enlightenment. It takes
Report’s conception of knowledge has innovation to be the means to reinforce all that
been broadened to include the spirit of may aid humanity to overcome the obstacles
Knowledge is knowledge, and thus its enlightenment and constraints it faces. The linking of these
principles allows some of the Report’s chapters
freedom, and and development dimensions. In doing to take on a composite character. Taken together,
as such a path so, it seeks to transcend those views of the Report’s chapters assume that the Arab
knowledge that emphasise technological historical regression in the domain of knowledge
that requires can be overcome, when the ambition to do so
further honing and quantitative indicators, overlooking is present, and when there is the political will to
the fact that knowledge is freedom, and as provide the resources needed to build enabling
of the creative such a path that requires further honing environments and institutions capable of guiding
mechanisms of of the creative mechanisms of human knowledge evolution and transforming its gains
into comprehensive human development.
human intelligence intelligence.
PRELIMINARIES TO THE
REPORT THE DIALECTICS OF THE
REPORT
The Report’s chapters are open-ended in
structure and attempt to take stock of The Report discusses a number of arguments,
existing conditions. This supposes that combining description and observation,
subsequent reports will contemplate and highlighting contradictions and
defined questions, a specific knowledge paradoxes. At the same time, it exercises
index, or one of the issues of the care in making judgements and adopting
knowledge performance improvement in positions. The Report attempts to free itself
the Arab region. from the purely economic perspective on
PREAMBLE 3
some of the knowledge indicators to be technology (ICT), the knowledge
treated in detail in the following chapters. economy, and the networked society,
The Report’s analyses and conclusions are with the object of highlighting the
based on events and available data and philosophical perspectives that stand
information up to the end of the first behind these designations. Two primary
quarter of 2009. frames of reference emerge as a result of
The six topics of the Report are these processes of investigation and
arranged as follows: construction. The first takes aspects
The literature on of positivism, particularly in its most
human rights places THE THEORETICAL strident manifestation of technological
the discourse of the FRAMEWORK: CONCEPTS determinism, as its reference. The second
knowledge society AND PROBLEMATICS OF THE frame of reference is laid bare by the rights
at the heart of the
KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY concepts that find their backing in the
(CHAPTER 1) diverse literature on human rights, which
calls for political places the discourse of the knowledge
modernisation This chapter contains four main axes. The society at the heart of the calls for political
first treats the foundations and origins modernisation.
directing the mechanisms of understanding The chapter concludes with a fourth axis
and imagination. The second axis treats the which treats the chief problematics of the
formulation of the concepts, scrutinising knowledge society, whether in its universal
the concept of the knowledge society and dimensions or in aspects specifically
attempting to delineate the boundaries that linked to the knowledge transformations
have been drawn up to delimit its various underway in Arab society. This section
significations. This section also attempts to develops a dialectic that alludes both to
construct an operational definition based aspects of these problematics and at the
on the results of the various chapters of same time to their potential horizons, in
the Report. This should be seen as a first the context of the developments taking
attempt to view the foundations of the place in the knowledge society.
concept from the perspective of the actual
needs and ambitions of Arab society in the ARAB KNOWLEDGE
field of knowledge. The chapter examines PERFORMANCE
the different significations of the concept ENVIRONMENTS:
in contemporary knowledge discourse, EXPANDING FREEDOMS
with special attention paid to those current AND BUILDING INSTITUTIONS
in international reports. This process of (CHAPTER 2)
constructing a specific definition aims to
avoid a complacent acceptance of current While Chapter 1 is concerned with the
wisdom. This is particularly necessary general theoretical framework of the
The oil boom given the complex nature and the depth of knowledge society, this chapter deals
has not boosted the Arab knowledge gap, which requires with the conditions needed to enable
economic freedoms us to draw upon the state of knowledge the development of knowledge in the
in the Arab region in the world and in the Arab region to Arab world. Thus the two chapters are
formulate a definition that corresponds complementary in more ways than one.
to, and harmonises with, Arab specificities Chapter 2, using a set of lines of inquiry or
and ambitions. axes, and using examples from the political
The third axis of the chapter examines and economic, as well as the social, cultural,
the theoretical norms and frames of and media environments, highlights the
reference which form the starting pressures and restrictions that prevent
point for the construction of concepts the formation of a nurturing and holistic
synonymous with the knowledge society, environment for the requirements of the
such as information and communications knowledge society.
PREAMBLE 5
Aware of the thorniness of the subject, that have eliminated obstacles of time
the chapter pays attention to the pivotal and place (for example, through internet
issue of Arab knowledge capital as it is built services) and have become essential tools
up in and by schools and universities. In for the increased use and expansion of the
order to define the nature of this capital, the various spheres of knowledge and their
first part of the chapter reviews the general deployment. These technologies have
landscape of knowledge acquired through become the convenient and easy way to
education in the Arab region. In its second obtain knowledge and have been widely
part, which forms the main body of the applied in life’s various realms, including
chapter, it turns, through the study of a set the economy, management and education,
of quantitative and qualitative indicators, thus demonstrating how far they have
Arabic is to how knowledge capital is developed. penetrated society.
technologically These indicators are based on a three-part The chapter thus deals with the presence
poor in comparison division into children, young people, and of ICT in the Arab countries, by attempting
adults. Starting with the available data, the to showcase current applications and their
with the languages
chapter presents a map which elucidates limits. It reviews examples from the fields
dominating the nature, deficits, and paradoxes of of education, business, healthcare, and
the ICT field knowledge capital and clarifies the areas social development, clarifying the existing
of distinction, difference, and similarity gaps in these applications, and highlighting
between the Arab countries at the different gains achieved.
stages of education. The third part of the On another axis, the chapter devotes
chapter, while revealing the limitations of attention to the challenges confronting
this capital and highlighting some gaps and Arabic digital content by contemplating
barriers that still prevent it from attaining its comparative weakness in the global
the knowledge society, deals with the kind context. The chapter concerns itself with
of knowledge capital appropriate for entry how the Arabic language can be developed
into the knowledge society. in order to make it capable of acting as a
vehicle and medium to produce knowledge
INFORMATION AND that conforms to the requirements of Arab
COMMUNICATIONS reality. On this point in particular, mention
TECHNOLOGIES IN THE ARAB is made of the technological poverty of
The Report intends COUNTRIES: THE PILLARS Arabic in comparison with the languages
to measure the AND TOOLS OF KNOWLEDGE dominating the ICT field. Attention is also
degree to which the (CHAPTER 4) drawn to the importance of developing
the tools of the language to render it
Arabs have entered
While Chapters 1 and 2 direct attention to capable of constructing digital content,
the knowledge the theoretical frameworks and preparatory which will expand Arab gains in this field.
society taking as a and supportive environments for the In conclusion, the chapter formulates
starting point their knowledge society and Chapter 3 examines initiatives to overcome some of the
levels of ICT access the subject of education (one of the most obstacles which, in the Arab environment,
important of the latter’s pillars), Chapter 4 is prevent widespread access to, and use and
and acquisition
concerned with the technology pillar, which development of, ICT.
today occupies such a significant position
in terms of knowledge development and ARAB RESEARCH AND
information acquisition. The chapter INNOVATION PERFORMANCE
intends to measure the degree to which the (CHAPTER 5)
Arabs have entered the knowledge society,
taking as a starting point their levels of In Chapter 5, the Report investigates the
ICT access and acquisition. topic of innovation in Arab knowledge,
The chapter highlights the triumphs of starting with an attempt to broaden the
ICT in assembling knowledge networks indicators used in some international
PREAMBLE 7
marginalisation in the Arab region. It as the establishment of the enabling
prefers to sketch the major landmarks environment, the indigenisation of
that must be passed and difficulties that knowledge, and its deployment in the
must be transcended if obscurantism and service of development and renaissance
knowledge poverty are to be overcome. in the Arab nation. The third pillar of the
This sketch takes the form of a specific plan sketches priorities for action. Here
Intercommunication proposal that clearly acknowledges the tasks are prioritised in terms of urgency
with the self means differences existing between the Arab according to the data on knowledge gaps
accurate diagnosis countries in the field of knowledge and in the Arab countries.
of its shortcomings is conscious, at the same time, of the The chapter explains that momentum
enormous gaps that exist and the difficulty towards entry into the knowledge society
with regard to of confronting them. Hence the plan must begin with action in the area of the
knowledge and of promotes a step by step approach to the enabling environment as a preliminary
its flaws with regard closure of knowledge gaps and works to step towards transfer and indigenisation.
to knowledge prioritise short, medium, and long-term Thereafter the chapter turns towards
environments plans for action to enable the Arabs to momentum in the deployment of
communicate with the self and with the knowledge in such a way as to ensure
world on the basis of the gains that modern its engagement with knowledge creation
knowledge provides. and production. The chapter does not
Intercommunication with the self means neglect to mention that this plan leaves
accurate diagnosis of its shortcomings the field open to any combinations
with regard to knowledge and of its flaws of interaction, interconnection, and
with regard to knowledge environments, gradualism that may be required, bearing
followed by courageous, ambitious in mind that momentum, confrontation,
intercommunication with the world, and multiplicity of points of entry will
undertaken in the faith that partnership in always encourage entry into membership
knowledge production requires dialogue. of the knowledge society.
Equally, the building of alliances requires This chapter also includes suggestions
the building of rational relationships that related to the pressing need for an Arab
do not view the self from a fixed angle, but knowledge observatory. The latter could
see it as the product of complex historical be included as a component on more than
processes. This will give the Arabs the one of the axes of this proposed plan, to
Momentum towards possibility of realising their plans to expand strengthen and provide launching power
entry into the the spheres of knowledge and achieve the for it.
knowledge society hoped-for Arab renaissance. The Arab Knowledge Report 2009
The concluding chapter takes the initiates a series of reports that are to
must begin with
position that the proposed vision must follow in the years to come with the aim
action in the area conform to Arab ambitions and desires of building a data base of information
of the enabling to overcome the gaps in knowledge from on and prescriptions and proposals for
environment which they suffer. In this context, the the improvement of Arab knowledge
chapter is concerned with articulating a performance. It is assumed that the data
plan, which rests on three foundations. and results included in this Report will
The first is related to the necessary bases support the possibility of approaches from
for the knowledge society, these bases other angles to the subjects of knowledge,
are defined in terms of three principles: freedom, and development. These are the
expansion of the scope of freedoms; axes linked to the epistemological change
harmonisation and correspondence needed in society in order to open and
with the needs of human development; broaden the road to the anticipated Arab
and openness and intercommunication. renaissance.
The second foundation puts forward the
axes of the vision, which are defined
CONCEPTS AND INDICATORS OF 2001 66.0 5038 0.70 0.63 0.65 0.662
ARAB HUMAN DEVELOPMENT2
2006 67.8 7760 0.71 0.70 0.73 0.713
The Report views development as the means Source: UNDP website, www.hdr.undp.org on 13 April 2009
by which an individual expands his or her
PREAMBLE 9
While the Arab Gulf states have achieved
Table 2 the highest rates in terms of achievement
Population and GDP per capita in Arab countries of the Millennium Development Goals,
(2008, projections) particularly in the fields of health and
universal education, some other Arab states
Total Population GDP GDP
Per
are expected to fail to reach these goals
Country capita
Population Share (PPP US$ Share by 2015, the year set by the Millennium
Group GDP
(million) (%) billion) (%)
(PPP US$)
Declaration. The list of Arab states unlikely
to reach the Millennium Development
Group 1: Oil
economies
40.2 13.2 1117 45.9 27786 Goals covers those that still fall within
the category of least developed states
Group 2: Mixed
39.9 13.1 332 13.6 8313 (Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Sudan,
oil economies
and Yemen), as well as states suffering from
Group 3: conflict, internal disputes, and occupation,
Diversified 156.4 51.5 833 34.2 5328
economies
such as Iraq, Palestine, and Somalia.
One of the most important negative
Group 4:
Primary export 67.1 22.1 153 6.3 2277
phenomena to characterise development
economies performance in many countries of the
region is the dutiful compliance with the
Total 303.6 100 2435 100 8020
so-called economic and social reform
Group 1: Oil economies: the Gulf Cooperation Council states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, programmes, which for the most part
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE). originate abroad. It is clear to an observer
Group 2: Mixed oil economies: Algeria and Libya.
Group 3: Diversified economies: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia.
that most Arab societies, in the structure
Group 4: Primary export economies: Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Sudan, and Yemen. of authority and the state, depend on a
paternalist social contract which holds the
Source: League of Arab States and UNDP, 2008, from the IMF and the CIA World Factbook
state responsible for the welfare of society
and the provision of services in exchange
the beginning of the current decade, and for the political allegiance that imparts
that at the beginning of 2006 not a single legitimacy to the state.
Arab state fell into the category of low Economic and social, as well as
human development (see Table 1). For demographic, changes on the Arab scene
the most part, progress was basic, with, have, however, placed such systems and
perhaps, the exception of advance in per social contracts under intense pressures
capita GDP, which has risen from $5,038 that may threaten their survival. Population
in 2001 to $7,760 in 2006, and to more growth, changes in ways of life within
Poverty in the than $8,000 in 2008. However on the society, weak and falling incomes, and
Arab region is level of the Arab region, the significance growing awareness among citizens are
increasing despite of this improvement is reduced because perhaps among the most significant of
of the great variation between the Arab these changes. To deal with these pressures,
all the efforts aimed
states and the clear concentration of at least on the economic level, many Arab
at reducing it the increases in per capita GDP in the states have engaged in economic and
oil-exporting countries as opposed to social structural reform programmes with
others of the region (see Table 2). This clear encouragement from international
variation also holds true for the overall institutions and the Western world. There
Human Development Index, which is near consensus, however, that most
shows that only seven Arab states (the of these corrective programmes, largely
Gulf Cooperation Council member states launched in the 1980s, have not produced
and Libya), making up 15 per cent of the the desired results and have exacerbated
population of the Arab region, fall within economic and social problems. Poverty
the high human development band ( HDI in the Arab region is increasing despite all
of 0.8 or above). the efforts aimed at reducing it. In 2005,
Diversified economy
1991-1999 14.7 18.4 2000-2005 16.8 22.8
(six states) In rural Egypt and
Mixed oil economy
1995 14.1 4.1 2000 12.1 3.8 Morocco, one
(one state)
in four people is
Primary export
economy 1996-1998 41.3 8.0 2000-2006 36.2 8.1 poor, compared
(two states) with one in ten in
Overall Average 17.9 30.5 18.4 34.7 urban areas, and
Source: League of Arab States and UNDP, 2008 families supported
by women are much
more affected by
the proportion of people living below the nine Arab countries, shows that there was
lowest national income poverty line in the a slight increase in the poor as a proportion poverty than those
Arab region reached approximately 18.4 of the population in the first decade of the supported by men
per cent. Wealth is also badly distributed, millennium in comparison with the 1990s
for rural areas suffer much more poverty (18.4 and 17.9 per cent respectively).
than urban ones. In rural Egypt and Regarding the Human Poverty Index,
Morocco, one in four people is poor, we find an improvement in the Arab states
compared with one in ten in urban areas. from the end of the 1990s until 2007. Egypt,
Similarly, families supported by women Syria, Tunisia, Jordan, Oman, Djibouti,
are much more affected by poverty than Qatar, and the UAE have reduced their
those supported by men. Table 3, which scores on the Human Poverty Index by at
is based on the results of field research in least 25 per cent over the first decade of
Figure 1
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Djibouti
Jordan
Sudan
Yemen
Saudi Arabia
Oman
Tunisia
Algeria
UAE
Syria
Mauritania
Lebanon
Libya
Egypt
Comoros
Morocco
Qatar
PREAMBLE 11
Food Sovereignty index of 1.6.4 Some
Figure 2
see the aridity of large swathes of Arab
Unemployment rate among Arab youth (A) and territory as the determining factor in this
their share in total unemployment (B) area. However, much evidence points to
(per cent) in 2005/2006 poor management of available resources,
including environmental resources. The
data point to significant facts, perhaps
(A)
50
45
the most important of which is that
40
food imports formed 15 per cent of total
35 imports to the region in 2006. Worse, while
30 Arab countries are mostly self-sufficient
25
20
in terms of producing foodstuffs for the
15 wealthy, such as meat, fish, and vegetables,
10 foodstuffs for the poor classes, such as
5 grains, oils, and sugar, are largely imported.
0
Thus, the Arab poor are more affected than
So n
a
an
o
ria
Su n
ia
Le ain
est oun ya
n
Tu a
Ku n
Jo ti
ia
E it
iA t
n T ries
Al q
Ba ria
Dj ries
Ye r
E
oro d
ud gyp
M mali
ta
da
i
cc
rda
me
no
u
wa
Ira
UA
nis
rab
l
an
others by changes in world food prices.
c Lib
or
Om
ge
Sy
ibo
hr
Qa
ito
t
ba
rit
W
err
au
M
Ar
Al n
Oc
Qa cco tinian
Ba coun
Jo a
Le in ies
Eg itan
Ku
Sa t
Tu
M
Lib
So i Ara
Dj lia
Ye
Sy on
Su n
M ied P
UA
Ira ti
W
ge
ab
rda
ba
au
ibo
oro ale
nis
hr
ria
ud
yp
or
me
ma bi
tar
da
q
wa
ya
E
ria
a
ld
i
n
u
i t
a
s
Source: League of Arab States and UNDP, 2008 and UNDP, 2008).
Studies indicate that Arab women
suffer more than men in relation to
the millennium (Figure 1). However, when unemployment (International Labor
we compare the performance of these Organisation, 2009).
countries with that of other countries of The youth unemployment rate remains
The Arab poor are the world with similar rankings on the very high: in 2005 it varied from 46 per
more affected than Human Development Index, we find that cent in Algeria to 6.3 per cent in the United
others by changes it could have been better. Arab Emirates (see Figure 2). The Arab
in world food prices The Arab countries also constitute states still face a major challenge in the
one of the regions of the world most creation of job opportunities for youth.
dependent on imports for the food security Table 4 refers to forecasts made in a recent
of their inhabitants. International reports 2008 study carried out by the UNDP in
show that most Arab states fall in the cooperation with the League of Arab States
band of states with very low sovereignty which clearly show the tangible need to find
in terms of food supply, with an Arab work opportunities for the ever growing
Mixed economy
48.3 11.82 42.59 6.55 14.16 21.78
(six states)
Oil economy
13.7 4.53 13.08 3.37 7.73 12.08
(six states)
Total (eighteen
100.3 12.97 87.29 15.03 32.98 50.91
Arab states)
numbers of Arab youth who each day join poor, reform of the education system, and
the ranks of the unemployed. It is obvious diversification of the economic systems so
that the picture has become gloomier in as not to be dependent on one commodity
view of the current world financial crisis (in particular oil based economies), in
and its repercussions for the region. addition to the provision of food security
(League of Arab States and UNDP, 2008). The employment
GOVERNANCE AND THE picture has become
WEAKNESS OF INSTITUTIONAL VARIABLES EXERTING gloomier in view of
PERFORMANCE5 PRESSURE ON THE ARAB the current world
KNOWLEDGE SCENE financial crisis
The Arab states have remained weak and
hidebound over the last two decades, WAR, OCCUPATION, INTERNAL
without any notable change in terms CONFLICT, AND THE
of institutional performance. Available DISRUPTION OF KNOWLEDGE
indicators make clear that the Arab states’
weak performance in 1996 in terms of Occupation, wars, and internal conflicts
governance6 indicators did not change have an overwhelmingly disruptive
greatly in the ten years to 2006 (League of influence on the knowledge society.
Arab States and UNDP, 2008). The effect Not only do they affect its mainstays, Occupation,
of this weak performance on many aspects in the form of education, technology, wars, and internal
of development and the components and innovation, they also, through the conflicts have an
of the knowledge society, in particular economic destruction, disruption to overwhelmingly
freedoms, is no secret. development, suppression of freedoms, disruptive
One of the most recent reports has and restrictions on movement, strike at
influence on the
concluded that the major challenges the heart of the enabling environments
facing the region can be summarised as needed for the establishment of the knowledge society
institutional reform, good governance, knowledge society. Furthermore, the lack
the provision of job opportunities– of security means that people are unable
particularly for youth–, the ring-fencing to obtain their basic needs, to say nothing
of funds for development that serves the of realising their hopes of setting in place
PREAMBLE 13
the pillars of the society to which they equivalent.
aspire. Some sources point to a recent
With regard to Iraq, it cannot be claimed improvement in the state of education
that education prior to the US intervention and knowledge on the heels of a relative
in 2003 was devoid of the problems known improvement in the political and security
to other Arab countries. However, many situation. This gives hope for better
studies and indicators confirm that the opportunities to deal in the most effective
standard of education has declined after way with the existing and cumulative
2003, and that educational problems have knowledge challenges if the building of
In the period been exacerbated and have accumulated as knowledge society is to be renewed in Iraq
2003-2007, more a result of the conflicts that broke out. and if Iraqi energies are to be released
than 830 Iraqi For example, a report of the UN Office anew in support of development and a
for the Coordination of Humanitarian better future.
academics were
Affairs (OCHA) stated that net enrolment Palestinians continue to suffer the
killed, most of them rates in basic education had reached 46 per negative effects of the occupation on
doctors, engineers, cent in the 2006-7 school year compared all the operative axes of the knowledge
and physicists to 86 per cent in the previous year, and society. The Israeli occupation and
that only 28 per cent of graduation-age repeated incursions into the Palestinian
students had been able to attend their end territories have had enormous effects on
of year final exams, which only 40 per cent the educational process, considered the
of them passed (UN OCHA, 2008). corner stone of any knowledge society.
A UNESCO report published in Many pupils, teachers, and support staff
April 2007 and entitled Education under have been killed, over and above the
Attack, disclosed that political and military continual danger of detention and abuse at
violence that targets educational systems is the occupation’s barriers and checkpoints.
causing growing numbers of children to During 2008, and without taking account
be deprived of the right to education. The of the losses suffered during the attack on
report depicted Iraq’s educational system Gaza that began at the end of the year,
as “the education system most impacted statistics from the Palestinian Ministry
by the severity of attacks, whose scope and of Education show that forty Palestinian
numbers of casualties have reached a level students were killed and eighty others
Palestinians continue so extreme as to threaten the collapse of the received a range of wounds. Also, 260
to suffer the school and university systems” (UNESCO, students, teachers, and support staff were
negative effects of 2007b, in Arabic). The report made clear detained. To this should be added the
the occupation on
that over a period of not more than ten Israeli incursions that led to the ongoing
months between February and November closure of 100 schools and the loss of
all the operative 2006, 280 Iraqi teachers were killed, and 150 school days (Palestinian Ministry of
axes of the that only 30 per cent of Iraq’s 3.5 million Education and Higher Education, 2009a,
knowledge society pupils attended classes in 2007, compared in Arabic). UNICEF reported that “nearly
to 75 per cent in the previous school year. half of all students have seen their school
The UNESCO report mentioned that besieged by troops, and more than 10 per
enrolment at Baghdad universities declined cent have witnessed the killing of a teacher
by 40 per cent while more than 3,000 in school” (UNICEF, 2009).
academics fled the country. A report Nor have the universities been spared
presented in June 2007 to the British attack and the infliction of varied damage.
Cross-party Commission on Iraq7 stated Israeli forces raided the University of
that in the period 2003-2007, more than Bethlehem and Al-Najah University in
830 Iraqi academics were killed, most of Nablus in 2002, and Hebron University in
them doctors, engineers, and physicists; 2003, besieging them and causing lessons
more than 70 per cent of the victims were to be suspended. The Al-Quds Open
university professors, PhD holders, or the University in Ramallah, the Palestine
PREAMBLE 15
higher rate for women (74.2 per cent).10 merely excessive zeal for a particular idea
According to 2007 statistics, the number or affiliation. When this goes too far, it
of internet users has topped 98,000 out falls into the snare of extremism, which in
of a total population of 9 million, putting turn leads to obscurantist, inward-looking
Somalia in 127th place out of 155 states.11 positions incapable of discrimination. This
Given that Somalia has long suffered brings us up against extremism in forms
from the absence of government or a that generate its counterpart of counter-
single administrative body, and given its extremism, thus preventing the dialogue
particular makeup and continuous conflicts, and outreach that are the foundations for
the roles of other non-governmental recognition, mutual understanding, and
Extremism negates civil society parties have grown, in an eventual cooperation and partnership.
the Other, halts attempt to create the mainstays on which What interests us in this context is the
the process of the knowledge society depends. For extremism that negates the Other, halts
dialogue and example, education networks, such as the process of dialogue, and prevents
prevents mutual
the Formal Private Education Network mutual understanding. If we are to become
(FPENS), which is one of the largest familiar with the effects of extremism on
understanding active education networks with a number knowledge in the Arab countries, we must
of primary and secondary schools in more also become familiar with some of its
than half the regions of Somalia, exist characteristics and manifestations.
(Abdulle, 2008). However, large sections Knowledge can only flourish in
of poor and marginalised groups cannot an atmosphere of freedom, and the
take advantage of the health and education knowledge society can have no foundation
services provided by these NGOs because as long as extremism remains in play.
these services are generally provided on a Extremism which threatens freedom or
cash basis. In one form or another, all these bans it–whether through the behaviour of
efforts contribute to development. But certain groups or the tyranny of regimes
are they enough to establish a knowledge that practise extremism through the
society, especially in view of the absence suppression of freedoms–has a negative
of the state for around two decades? effect on the enabling environments of
Knowledge can the knowledge society. This is dealt with in
only flourish in EXTREMISM AND ITS EFFECT detail in Chapter 2 of the Report.
an atmosphere ON THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY12 Extremist trends oppose both the
of freedom, and acknowledgment of the Other, and dialogue
the knowledge “Extremism” has become one of the major and outreach. For the most part they rely on
terms associated with current Arab reality calls and conceptions which they formulate
society can have and is in wide circulation, despite the lack with a private logic that tolerates no dissent.
no foundation as of agreement over its meaning. Some extremist movements have reverted
long as extremism If there is extremism in religion then, to tradition as a weapon in current political
remains in play logically, it applies to all religions, and this and epistemological battles, indicating
is what we find in our contemporary world, that we have not yet rid ourselves of the
where the literature teems with reports frozen view of past tradition nor come to a
detailing extremism among Muslims, positive reconciliation with our past in all its
Christians, and Jews. There are even reports components. Reference to the relationship
of extremism among Sikhs in India and in modern Arab thought between the
Buddhists in Myanmar. Besides religious cultural heritage and knowledge impels us
extremism, there is also political extremism, to refer to the wide public that has brought
as represented by the extremist wings of certain traditional discourses and symbols
the political tendencies. back into Arab knowledge and society.
A distinction should be made between While the invocation of some traditional
extreme loyalty (Ta'asub) and extremism symbols may be positive in encouraging
(Tataruf). Extreme loyalty may remain contact with reality and progress, this
PREAMBLE 17
Arab countries or on the global level. the Arab knowledge situation. The data on
The reformist tendency in its new form education and the reform of knowledge
is marked by its reliance on a discourse that environments continue to be expressed
calls for gradual and peaceful transition in abbreviated form, in the shape of
and accepts democracy as the best option slogans and general demands. If we cast
The reformist for building a new consensus aimed at the a quick glance at the reform programmes
tendency calls generalisation of the language and logic of of most states or organisations, we will
for gradual and peaceful reform. However this call, which notice the absence of knowledge in its
has crystallised third-generation concepts various manifestations and dimensions as
peaceful transition
of political reform, has not been able to an area of particular interest. This may
and accepts maintain its ardour, despite the positive be explained by the fact that the tyranny
democracy as effects it has produced in such Arab states of the general political orientation both
the best option as Morocco, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and overwhelms knowledge and dominates
some Gulf countries. society’s thinking. However, the failure
We spoke above of “third-generation to specify the contours and horizons of
reform concepts,” a term that affirms knowledge reform should be considered a
the deep roots and continuity of hopes failure to recognise the significant pivotal
for reform on the Arab political scene. role that knowledge has come to play in
The history of reform in the Arab region human societies.
The stagnation of has marched in step with the thought of
reform in various the Arab renaissance, during which the THE WORLD FINANCIAL
Arab countries first generation of concepts of reform CRISIS: OPPORTUNITIES AND
constitutes a kind were formulated. The conceptual fabric CHALLENGES FOR THE
of the second generation of reform is ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
of regression linked with the movements for liberation KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY.13
that impoverishes from colonialism. Thus reform has a long
political life and history in the Arab world, and the concepts The increasing disassociation of capital
reduces the options that have crystallised at the beginning of flows and financial transactions from the
for comprehensive this century complete and fulfil previous workings of the real economy (real, that
steps in the evolution of the reformist is, in terms of production, consumption,
development
orientation in Arab thought. However, commodity export, and true investment)
we note a halt in the recent revival now has led to greater “fragility” in the world
that we find ourselves face to face with financial system, a rise in the level of risk
a stagnation that promises a reversion to on the world’s money markets, and growing
old patterns of rule regarding the way in failure to achieve monetary and financial
which phenomena within Arab society are stability on the global level. This has led
dealt with. This stagnation that has affected to the major financial crisis that escalated
the waves of reform in various Arab at the end of 2008 in Wall Street and has
The financial crisis countries in recent years constitutes a kind since caused the bankruptcy and collapse
that escalated in of regression that impoverishes political of major financial institutions. We believe
2008 will further life and reduces the options intended to that this crisis will have repercussions for
slow the process respond to the demand for comprehensive production and the different knowledge
human development. programmes as it has on economic and
of knowledge Without going into the details of social development. We also assume there
indigenisation in past and current reform programmes, will be ramifications that further slow the
the Arab milieu we would point to the absence of one process of knowledge indigenisation in
fundamental element, that represented by the Arab milieu.
the declaration of freedoms, even though The countries of the Arab region have
the discourse of reform has raised such been affected by the global economic crisis
slogans. We also note the absence of according to their degree of engagement
systematic and productive monitoring of with the currents of financial globalisation.
PREAMBLE 19
• Curtailment of the “culture of directed. This will lead to the opening
speculation” and of speculative of other doors for partnership in the
behaviour in general, especially with future and encourage the transfer of
regard to stock markets and property. knowledge.
• The redirection of savings into The current crisis may also open up
The current crisis productive investment channels that new prospects for a creative adaptation
may help to restore have large development and knowledge to globalisation through knowledge
the status of honest returns. This should be followed by and technological cooperation with the
work and sincere transition in the Arab economy to a advanced nations of the South such as
mode of production that encourages India, Brazil, China, South Korea, and
effort, and build
creativity and innovation. Malaysia and by means of other South-
a new system • Direction of intra-Arab investments South arrangements and partnerships
of incentives to to areas with high development more closely tailored to the levels of
encourage creativity returns rather than those with rapid economic, social, and knowledge progress
and development and purely financial returns such as in the Arab region. This should give us
were characteristic of the 1990s and the opportunity to share in the potential
the beginnings of the twenty-first benefits of globalisation through merit,
century, when excessive investment rather than suffering merely the downsides,
in the financial and property sectors as has often been the case.
came at the expense of productive and While over the last ten years property
knowledge-based activities with long- and stock market speculation has led to an
term development effects. unprecedented centralisation of income
• Import substitution as a result of the and wealth in the Arab region, it has
decline in foreign currency reserves. also led to the “divorce of effort from
This will provide impetus to further return,” and thus dealt a severe blow to
efforts to improve quality, spread a the values of hard work, innovation, and
culture of “excellence” and raise the creativity innate in our culture and society.
level of competitiveness of products and The current crisis may help to restore the
services in the Arab market. This again status of honest work and sincere effort,
will lead to the concentration of efforts and this will help to build a new system
on the local manufacture of knowledge of incentives to encourage creativity and
tools, upon whose import from abroad development.
we are presently largely dependent. This Given the current crisis and the
will help to solve the special problems pressures on public and private budgets,
Many key problems of the state of knowledge in the Arab there must be caution with regard to
still form a major states by developing output to serve our dipping into allocations for research
obstacle to the needs and priorities. and development activities and cultural,
establishment of the • Increased technological and knowledge creative, and artistic projects. The welfare
knowledge society, self-reliance through a gradual move of coming generations is at stake.
away from very high cost “turn-key”
the most prominent technology contracts and packages. OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT
among them being This would include the acquisition of KNOWLEDGE SITUATION IN
continuing illiteracy technology and knowledge by processes THE ARAB REGION
of creative practice, or what is known in
the economic literature as technological The Report will treat of the condition
and knowledge progress via on-the-job of knowledge and sustain an analysis
learning. aimed at revealing its most significant
• Expansion in the development of intra- deficits and formulating suggestions to
Arab commerce to compensate for the help its revival. Here we present a brief
foreign export markets in Europe and preliminary review of some of the major
the US to which most Arab exports are developments that have occurred in Arab
PREAMBLE 21
utilised as required to serve society. performance remains the major weak spot
On the ICT axis, it is evident that the on the current Arab knowledge scene,
Arab states have made reasonable progress, and the scientific innovation and research
in that the region has continued to invest gap between the Arab countries and the
in infrastructure, recording, in 2008, rest of the advanced regions of the world
progress in technological performance that remains clear, deep, and serious. The Arab
exceeded that in all other regions of the region’s expenditure on scientific research
world.20 Four Arab countries came within is one of the world’s lowest in terms of
the top fifty states most ready to utilise Arab GNP. Research and development
ICT and eleven Arab countries witnessed institutions are weakly integrated with the
On the ICT axis, the a rise in the value of the ICT index in cycle of production. The development
Arab states have comparison with 1995. Yet, despite these returns of Arab scientific research are
made reasonable achievements, the gap between the Arab very weak and do not correspond to the
countries and the rest of the world remains magnitude of annual Arab expenditure on
progress
substantial. The performance of the Arab them, which tops $2 billion and which, in
countries also varies from state to state. the period 2002-2006, resulted in no more
Such variation between the Arab countries than approximately 38.2 patents per year
in their utilisation of new technologies and 5,000 published scientific papers.21
and in the use and production of Arabic The weakest point in Arab knowledge
digital content holds true also for the performance may be the lack of enabling
different social categories within each environments appropriate to the
country, and warns of more fragmentation establishment of a knowledge society,
and extremism should these countries not particularly in relation to the key index
institute equal access to technology. of freedom; as a whole, the Arab states
It is to be noted that improvement have made no tangible progress with
in Arab country performance according respect to freedom of thought and of
to the ICT index does not correlate with expression. Apart from the proliferation
national revenue. Even though some Arab of Arab satellite channels and internet
countries that enjoy high revenues occupy blogs, which have provided a safety valve
advanced positions on the ICT index, for a noticeable upsurge in activity by the
these positions remain lower than those region’s youth, the outlook for freedom of
occupied by other countries of the world thought and of expression remains gloomy.
that enjoy comparable national revenues. Some Arab governments have imposed
The weakest point Interest in investment in the field of restrictions on Arab satellite broadcasting.
in Arab knowledge research and innovation as one of the Additional broadcasting and media
performance may be pillars of knowledge has grown in the legislation and laws have been enacted
Arab states since the beginning of the which have strengthened governments’
the lack of enabling
1980s. Arab academic research centres grip on the media, press, journalists,
environments have steadily and noticeably developed internet blogs and bloggers, as well as
appropriate to the in all specialisations, so that most Arab intellectuals. Most media and knowledge-
establishment of a countries now have research centres and diffusion mechanisms remain state-owned
knowledge society institutions, whereas in the middle of the and operate alongside a limited number of
last century such institutions were limited large media and entertainment companies
to Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, and Lebanon. transmitting to the Arab countries from
After having been virtually absent from the the countries of the Gulf or from outside
field of international scientific publication, the region.
the Arabs now contribute 1.1 per cent of In contrast, a slight improvement in
output in that field (TWAS, 2005). In spite the development of economic freedoms
of progress on the research and innovation can be observed in states such as Egypt,
index, particularly from a quantitative Tunisia, and those of the Gulf, where
angle, in recent years, Arab innovation this has led to increased rates of growth.
PREAMBLE 23
End Notes
* Arberry, Arthur J. The Koran Interpreted. Oxford World’s Classics. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998. p.651.
1
See the section devoted to stagnation in political reform and its effects on enabling environments for knowledge.
2
This paragraph depends on the statistical update of the Human Development Report 2007-2008, which
gives the latest data available about the Arab region until 2006. It also depends on the data from the Human
Development Report 2003 for comparative purposes (www.hdr.undp.org).
3
Based on the proportion of the population under the lower national poverty line.
4
The Arab Food Sovereignty Index has been calculated for fifteen Arab countries. It is divided into the following
bands:
4.5>6.0: High food sovereignty;
2.5>5: Food sovereignty;
1.0>2.5: Low food sovereignty.
0>1.0: Extremely low food sovereignty.
5
Chapter 2 discusses this matter in more detail in terms of its impact on the knowledge society.
6
The governance indicators are based upon six dimensions: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and
Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law and Control over Corruption.
7
An independent multi-party commission formed to issue recommendations around the future of British forces in
Iraq.
Source: Jalili, Ismail. “Iraq’s Lost Generation” from the website http://www.brusselstribunal.org/pdf/
alJalili170607.pdf
8
From a speech by the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross upon his return from Darfur in
February 2007 (http://www.icrc.org/web/ara/siteara0.nsf/htmlall/sudan-news-210207?opendocument).
9
The Knowledge Index measures the capacity of a country to produce, indigenise, and diffuse knowledge. It is
the average of a country›s score on the indicators of the three key pillars of knowledge economy (education,
innovation, and ICT). See the World Bank website (KAM), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.
asp.
10
CIA website, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/so.html, on 13 March 2009.
11
http://www.nationmaster.com/time.php?stat=int_use-internet-users&country=so- and http://www.worldpress.
org/profiles2/Somalia.cfm on 13 March 2009
12
This paragraph relies on the background papers prepared by Fahmi Huwaydi (“Extremism and its Effect on the
Knowledge Society”) and Hani Fahs (“Fanaticism as an Obstacle to Knowledge” and “The Arab Knowledge
Renaissance between the Need for Agreement and a Landscape of Division”).
13
This section is based on a background paper to this report prepared during the first quarter of 2009 by Mahmud
‘Abd al-Fadil, “The Ramifications of the World Financial Crisis for Arab Economies and Societies: Losses and
Opportunities.”
14
Adult, here, means a person over fifteen years old.
15
See Statistical Annex, Table 9.
16
See Statistical Annex, Table 10.
17
See Statistical Annex, Table 11.
18
See Statistical Annex, Table 13.
19
See Statistical Annex, Table 15.
20
This is according to the majority of available indicators, including the report of the World Bank on the Knowledge
Assessment Methodology published in 2008. See Chapter 4.
21
World Bank website, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) 2008, http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/kam on
25 December 2008.
of the Arabic word meaning “to know” “knowledge” is “what is written to show
and the changes those meanings undergo something specific.” In other words, it is
according to their vowel signs or etymology “perception of the thing as it is.” Change
(al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi, 2002, in in meaning is a movement towards a
Arabic). Thus ma‘rifa means “the appearing signification in a specific area of knowledge,
and being revealed of what is hidden” and such as grammar, jurisprudence, logic, or
al-ma‘ruf (“that which is known”) means mysticism, resulting in the development of As Islamic culture
“what is clearly viewed” since the word a distinction between knowledge (ma‘rifa) became ever
“viewing” (nazar) here comprehends both and learning (‘ilm) and the knower (al-‘arif ) more diverse and
seeing and observing, as well as thinking. and the learned (al-‘alim) (al-Jurjani, 1985, vigorous, the Arabic
In this context, ma‘rifa indicates transition in Arabic). language was
from one state to another; i.e., transition The word ma‘rifa continued to carry its further enriched
from ignorance to learning. old meanings as found in the lexica until the
As Islamic culture became ever more beginnings of the twentieth century, after
diverse and vigorous, the Arabic language which it expanded under the influence of
was further enriched. Some specialised the second cultural exchange between Arab
dictionaries highlight the change in thought and trends in modern European
the meaning of the term “knowledge.’ thought, during the Arab renaissance. The
Al-Ta’rifat by al-Jurjani explains that word thus came to mean intellectual and
BOX 1-3
Knowledge
new consumer within society, who
Industrial
is distinguished by new patterns of
Society
Society
behaviour, by globalised cultural patterns,
and by intercommunication patterns
that create new phenomena, as shown in
Figure 1-1, which compares the poles in
question in such a way as to allow us to Technology
diagnose several current examples of this Digital* Analogue
transformation. Knowledge processing Data processing
Sequence machines Calculators
These data are not complete. They are an Logic of use Operational logic
attempt to capture aspects of phenomena Electronic informatics directed at the public Special and specialised informatics
that are in process of formation and Installation of data Large quantity of raw data
Worldwide Web Personal home computers
transition from the industrial society to the System profitability System strength
knowledge society, an attempt to examine Processing by topic Bundling
in detail what is happening in a changing Different media Multiple media
Interactive electronic carrier Paper carrier
world. Even though Arab societies are not Dynamic document Rigid document
industrial, and despite the knowledge gap
between the Arab world and the developed Economy
world, the Arabs are a part of this world Content Form
that aspires to a firmer mastery of scientific Strategy of cooperation Strategy of competition
knowledge and technology. Many novice users Experienced users
Tangible Value Tangible Cost
The preceding data help us understand Non-paper management Paper-dependent management
the concept of the technology-economy- Collective knowledge Technological knowledge
knowledge triad. Technology has its limits, Knowledge-based economy Production-intensive economy
Demand-driven market Supply-driven market
but there are no limits to innovation, and Intercontinental markets National markets
the economy has its spaces, albeit in the
new economies such spaces exist outside Society
of national borders. Despite these facts, Knowledge society Society of industrial units
the term “knowledge society” goes Intermingled culture National cultures
Interest groups Mass spectators
farther than the opening-up implied by Data glut Shortage of information
the two previous terms, and has taken Horizontal hierarchy (networks) Vertical hierarchy
up residence in society and in those Democratic participation2 Democratic representation
minds that are capable of building and *A digital description of information technology data, a central pole of the knowledge society.
developing it.
BOX 1-5
In the Declaration of Principles of the 10-12 December 2003 of all social organisation. It is central to the Information Society.
meeting in Geneva, we read: Everyone everywhere should have the opportunity to participate
Our challenge is to harness the potential of information and and no one should be excluded from the benefits the Information
communication technology (ICT) to promote the development Society offers.
goals of the Millennium Declaration, namely the eradication of We are aware that ICTs should be regarded as tools and not as an
extreme poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary end in themselves. Under favourable conditions, these technologies
education; promotion of gender equality and empowerment of can be a powerful instrument, increasing productivity, generating
women; reduction of child mortality; improvement of maternal economic growth, job creation and employability and improving the
health; to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; quality of life of all. They can also promote dialogue among people,
ensuring environmental sustainability; and development of global nations and civilisations.
partnerships for development for the attainment of a more peaceful, We are also fully aware that the benefits of the information
just and prosperous world. We also reiterate our commitment to the technology revolution are today unevenly distributed between the
achievement of sustainable development and agreed development developed and developing countries and within societies. We are fully
goals, as contained in the Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of committed to turning this digital divide into a digital opportunity for
Implementation and the Monterey Consensus, and other outcomes all, particularly for those who risk being left behind and being further
of relevant United Nations Summits. marginalised.
We reaffirm, as an essential foundation of the Information We affirm that development of ICTs provides enormous
Society, and as outlined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of opportunities for women, who should be an integral part of, and key
Human Rights, that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and actors, in the Information Society. We are committed to ensuring that
expression; that this right includes freedom to hold opinions without the Information Society enables women’s empowerment and their
interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas full participation on the basis on equality in all spheres of society and
through any media and regardless of frontiers. Communication is a in all decision-making processes. To this end, we should mainstream
fundamental social process, a basic human need and the foundation a gender equality perspective and use ICTs as a tool to that end.
BOX 1-6
1
Epistemic saturation refers to the absence of the lines that set the limits of the connotation of the concept.
Early in the process of their formation, concepts emerge in a specific epistemic field in a pre-saturated form
by virtue of their novelty and the absence of agreement among their users. Saturation takes place during the
process of the cumulative use of the concept, and as a result of agreement on its signification among specialists
and practitioners. We must not here associate epistemic saturation with obscurantism and static constancy.
Concepts have their own life-spans and forms of crystallization. A signification therefore varies then settles
down, then becomes a vocabulary item in the knowledge repository within the frame in which it is used.
2
Michel Cartier, http://www.michelcartier.com and Idris Binsa‘id, background paper for the Report, in Arabic.
3
Tunis Commitment, Article 23.
8
7 7
7
Number of Arab Countries
6
6
5
4
3
2
2
1
0
0
Good Satisfactory Noticeable Difficult Very Serious
problems situation situation
FIGURE 2-2
7
6 6
6
Number of Arab Countries
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
0 0 0 0
0
8.0
9.0
1.0
4.0
6.0
7.0
2.0
3.0
No
5.0
-8
-1
-1
-4
-6
-7
-2
-3
-5
Da
.9
0.0
.9
.9
.9
.9
.9
.9
.9
ta
M
Le
Av
os
as
a
tC
ila
tC
or
bl
or
ru
e
ru
p t
pt
7
6
5
4
2008
3
2 2003
1
0
uth a
n
Ma a
o
Dji n
n
ia
Co ya
ia
ia
Ba n
So ies
in
Alg a
Le b a
en
ica
ina
isia
uti
ros
n T Iraq
key
Mo ait
tar
Ma gypt
E
zil
So laysi
li
da
i
eri
Sa rocc
o
da
a
tan
S yr
UA
Ind
rab
hra
Lib
ma
Yem
Om
an
bo
r
w
Afr
Bra
Ch
Qa
mo
Tun
ito
Tur
Su
Jor
Ku
E
iA
uri
err
ud
tia
len
Pa
ied
cup
Oc
Source: Transparency International: Corruption Perception Index (May 11, 2009)
and “difficult” (Figure 2-1). We note too of corruption in 180 countries on the
that in 2008, all but two Arab countries basis of experts’ evaluations and opinion
ranked at the very bottom of 173 countries polls. The index depends on statistics
studied. from thirteen independent sources in
In this context, it is possible to compare the public sector and the political sector.
Arab countries to other areas of the world Evaluation is based on a normative scale
using the Democracy Index published by running from zero to ten. Every step up
the Economic Investigations Unit of The on the scale indicates a fall in the average In the Arab
Economist2. This index is based on sixty rate of corruption in the opinion of those countries, there
indicators which track performance in the surveyed. In seventeen of the twenty- clearly is a direct
following five areas: the electoral process two Arab countries studied, the level of
and plurality, civil liberties, government perception of corruption was less than correlation between
performance, political participation, and half the value of the scale, i.e., less than the decline in the
political culture. Most Arab countries five (Figure 2-2), while Somalia came levels of freedom
received rankings on this index that in last with a score of one. Iraq had the and democracy,
point to a lack of democracy, and only next lowest score, of 1.3. Thus, we find
the spread of
three—Iraq, Lebanon, and the Occupied that the situation of Arab countries on
Palestinian Territories—received relatively the world map according to this index4 corruption, and
higher marks. is not much better than their situation the decline of
All Arab countries receive a low ranking on the map of freedoms. This implies a government
compared to others such as Malaysia, direct correlation between the decline in performance
India, Brazil, and South Africa. Sweden the levels of freedom and democracy, the
topped the list of 165 countries included spread of corruption, and the decline of
in the 2008 study with an average of 9.88, government performance.
while North Korea came last with 0.863. It should be pointed out that
The other side of the coin is the Qatar and the UAE recorded the best
performance of government itself. Here performance in combating corruption
we refer to the Corruption Perception on the Arab front (Figure 2-3). The most
Index published by Transparency important indication of this is that they
International, which assesses the magnitude maintained this good performance in the
FIGURE 2-4
9
Number of Arab Countires
1 1
0
FIGURE 2-5
60.0
59.5
59.0
58.5 Economic Freedom
58.0 Average
57.5
57.0
56.5
56.0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Arab Countries that realised positive reforms in the field of business, 2007-2008
Starting a Dealing with Employing Registering Getting Protecting Paying Trading Enforcing Closing a
business construction permits workers* property credit Investors Taxes across contracts* business
borders
* No Arab country undertook positive reforms in the business domains of employment contracts enforcement.
some Arab countries. This was the case THE OIL BOOM DID NOT FOSTER
in Egypt, which came among the top ECONOMIC FREEDOM AS
GCC countries ten countries enacting reforms for the HOPED
were able to realise third time in four years, particularly in
cash surpluses terms of the tax system and the field of The Heritage Index for 2009 shows that
business start-up, as well as in dealing with the Arab Gulf countries realised the
thanks to a rise in building permits and property registration, highest relative average for economic
petroleum revenues obtaining funding, and protecting freedoms among Arab countries, and that
investors. Similarly, positive reforms in the this happened thanks to the policy of
field of business start-up were carried out economic openness, the attraction of
in Tunisia and Yemen, where the minimum foreign investments, and the modernisation
for capital required for that purpose was of the infrastructure. In addition,
cancelled, and in Jordan, where it was initiatives were undertaken that gave the
lowered. It is worth mentioning that private sector a larger, wider role in the
According to some Saudi Arabia made progress in reforms in production process. Member countries of
reports, there is no the field of business closure, a category the Gulf Cooperation Council were able
positive conditional which included no Arab countries to realise cash surpluses thanks to a rise
relationship between between 2003 and 2007. These reforms in petroleum revenues (Fraser Institute,
include the introduction of declaration 2008). However, with the exception of
increased oil and of bankruptcy as a means of liquidation Qatar and Bahrain, per capita income
gas revenues and a market exit device, as well as a ‘averages’ witnessed a decline as a result
and support for reduction in the role of the courts, setting of the swelling demand for imports. This
economic freedoms of time frames, and the maintenance of resulted in the depletion of resources that
transparency through use of the internet would have been better invested locally
(World Bank, IFC, 2007). (World Bank, 2009).
Since 2003, certain Arab oil-producing
countries (Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Oman)
FIGURE 2-6
90
80
70
60
50 2009
40 2003
30
20
10
0
Bahrain
Oman
Jordan
Djibouti
Qatar
Kuwait
UAE
Saudi Arabia
Lebanon
Egypt
Tunisia
Morocco
Yemen
Algeria
Mauritania
Syria
South Africa
Libya
Malaysia
Turkey
Brazil
India
China
FIGURE 2-7
Fraser Institute index of economic freedom of Arab countries vs. comparison countries
6
2003
5 2004
4 2005
3 2006
0
ria
ria
co
sia
an
an
sia
ey
il
yp
az
ric
di
in
ai
UA
wa
oc
rk
rd
Om
ge
Sy
ni
ay
hr
In
Ch
Eg
Br
Af
Ku
Tu
Tu
Jo
or
Al
Ba
al
h
M
M
ut
So
0
r
bia
it
ia
ain
an
an
ya
ria
nia
il
ey
dia
ina
sia
yp
ta
az
ric
cc
UA
wa
nis
Lib
rk
rd
Om
ge
lay
Qa
hr
In
ra
i ta
Ch
Eg
Br
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iA
Al
Ba
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Ma
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ud
Ma
ut
So
Sa
boom, beginning in 2000, from which surge in the growth of the per capita GDP
the oil and gas producing and exporting in many Gulf countries. On the contrary,
countries in particular derived great benefit, after 2005, these averages actually declined17
and which led to an exceptional economic in a number of petroleum countries, such
revival, unlike what was happening at the as the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and
same time in many countries of the world, Kuwait (see Figure 2-9). Likewise, the oil
including certain developed countries. boom was not accompanied by a boom in
From 2000-2007, there was an increase knowledge mirroring the investment of oil
in GNP (gross national product) in Arab revenues in knowledge sectors, nor was it The oil boom was
countries, especially the petroleum exporters reflected in an improvement in individual not accompanied
among them, and even a number of non- living conditions in all the social brackets in by a boom in
petroleum exporters such as Egypt and the Arab world as a whole. In fact, the poor knowledge mirroring
Tunisia, which benefited partially from the grew poorer in the shadow of the inflation the investment
increase in petroleum prices (World Bank, which swept across the world and through of oil revenues in
2009). Secondly, some Arab countries like the Arab region at least until the autumn knowledge sectors
Egypt, Kuwait, and Jordan took important of 2008. Investment in the establishment
in the Arab world
steps towards openness and on the road to of a knowledge society and economy was
the deregulation of their economies and very modest, whether in quantitative or as a whole
the removal of some inhibiting restrictions qualitative terms or in terms of impact. This
to business and to commercial, banking, is not to deny the numerous praiseworthy
and investment activity. This contributed efforts and initiatives that have been
to a relatively good economic performance made in this regard, both by the public
for this period, which preceded the current and private sectors and by civil society
economic crisis. organisations18 whose goals are the transfer
However, most of these huge petroleum and indigenisation of knowledge and
revenues were invested in specific sectors the enhancement of knowledge content
like construction, which relies heavily on or that include knowledge programmes
foreign labor, as well as in investments and activities in one form or another.
outside the Arab world which produce Numerous initiatives have been undertaken
rapid returns. Therefore, petroleum in the region in production fields such as
revenues did not produce a comparable industry, agriculture, and services, and in
FIGURE 2-9
9
8
7
6
5
4 1996-99
3 2000-04
2
2005
1
2006
0
Oman
Algeria
Qatar
Libya
Jordan
Tunisia
Egypt
Djibouti
Bahrain
Syria
Yemen
Saudi Arabia
Lebanon
UAE
Morocco
Kuwait
-1 2007*
-2
-3
-4
-5
Saudi Arabia
Mauritania
Lebanon
Morocco
Bahrain
Algeria
Kuwait
Tunisia
Jordan
Yemen
Sudan
Oman
Qatar
Egypt
Libya
Syria
UAE
Iraq
0.00
-5.00
2003
Billions of dollars
-10.00
2004
-15.00
2005
-20.00 2006
-25.00
-30.00
-35.00
-40.00
Source: Muhammad al-Sa‘id and Ahmad ‘Abd al-Latif, background paper for the Report, in Arabic.
reflect a clear vision directed towards international accords (see Table 2-2). Free trade
establishing a national perspective on The first group includes Arab countries agreements usually
innovation, the catalysis of creativity, with fewer laws and standards than exist
and development of local knowledge in the multilateral international system stipulate additional
content. represented by the TRIPS agreement. An and more stringent
example is Yemen, which grants copyright restrictions and
REGULATING INTELLECTUAL for thirty years, rather than the fifty of the standards for
PROPERTY IN THE ARAB accord. Countries of the second group
intellectual property
WORLD: DISPARITY AND include Arab members of the WTO. All
OCCASIONAL EXAGGERATION obligations and standards on the protection protection than
of intellectual property as set out in these those set out in the
Perhaps without realizing the importance accords are necessarily incumbent upon TRIPS agreement
of intellectual property, Arab legislation them as a fundamental and inescapable
has codified the restrictions that new condition for membership. The third group
international legislation dictates, based is composed of those Arab countries that
on the priorities of those countries most are members in the WTO but which, at
advanced economically, technologically, the same time, are party to a number of
and in terms of knowledge performance. additional trade agreements, such as free
There is considerable disparity among the trade agreements or a bilateral economic
Arab countries in terms of the features cooperation agreement with the United
of regulatory systems that protect the States or the European Union. These
rights of intellectual property, depending agreements usually stipulate additional and
on how closely tied they are to the TRIPS more stringent restrictions and standards
agreement. As a corollary, it is possible for intellectual property protection than
to divide Arab countries according to the those set out in the TRIPS agreement.
regulations currently on their books for In fact, these agreements reflect the
the protection of intellectual property interest of mega-corporations and the
into three groups, on the basis of how terms of advanced countries, leaving little
closely they apply the standards found in scope for creativity in developing countries.
digital products
not found in TRIPS,
There, the strict protectionism in, for agreement, and even accepted additional
and these should example, the pharmaceutical industry or commitments in the framework of
have been avoided of software protects the interests of mega- other free trade agreements ratified with
corporations that belong, for the most developed countries such as the United
part, to industrialised countries that built States and the European Union. Similarly,
their harvest of knowledge, historically, legislation of many Arab countries
in a climate free from restrictions on includes special obligations for technical
knowledge exchange. procedures for technology protection,
On the legislative level, regulations in such as encryption, even though these are
Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria stipulate some not among the requirements of the TRIPS
exceptions specific to the pharmaceutical agreement.
industry. In addition, some exceptions Table 2-3 on rights and responsibilities
from the articles of patent law have been of Arab countries shows that five of twelve
ratified in Egypt, Tunis, and Jordan, while Arab countries apply stricter provisions
in Syria, Morocco, and Jordan regulations for protection of authors’ rights than
allow for some flexibility in copyright laws. those called for by TRIPS, with protection
Djibouti and Mauritania remain exempt extending to seventy, rather than the fifty
from implementing the provisions of the years mandated by the agreement. Nine Arab
TRIPS agreement on medicines until 2013 countries have accepted special obligations
and 2016, respectively. Bahrain, Morocco, for technical procedures for the protection
and Oman, however, have broadened of digital products not found in TRIPS,
some of their commitments under this and these should have been avoided. And
the legal framework that endows them made laws governing information; and
with the foundations that guarantee their three Arab countries are still waiting to
continuity and make them viable in society. implement these laws, laws which have
The task of legislation is also to provide come to be taken for granted in free and
institutions with the tools that allow for developed countries.
self-scrutiny and accountability and thus It is incumbent on us to make use of
impart transparency. this aspect of the experience of more
Arab legislation The reality, however, is that Arab developed countries. In Europe, the
remains, for legislation remains, for the most part, Legal Framework for the Information
the most part, insufficient to address the questions Society (LEFIS), was established by the
insufficient to and issues of the knowledge society, European Union as an international
whether by protecting them, as in the research project under the “Sixth Frame”
address the case of property rights, or by supporting programme. The project has more than
questions and them, or in drafting guidelines for sixty members, including academic and
issues of the their continuity and development. For research institutions, companies, lawyers,
knowledge society example, Arab countries’ positions vary and European Union public administration
widely as regards the law of freedom experts.
of information published by Privacy LEFIS proposes standards for
International. Some of them find information technology and communications
themselves in the list of countries with in schools and law faculties, promotes the
an inferior level of laws guaranteeing study of laws and by-laws, and practices
this freedom; a large number fall into in applied arts centres. The project has
the category of countries that have not also applied itself to devising teaching
are illiterate, and when some nine million inability to access written knowledge,
school-age children are out of school, most however diverse the material foundations
of these in the very countries that have of this knowledge, literate people differ
failed to solve the illiteracy problem?8 greatly in knowledge and skills, especially
How can these countries possibly build if they have persisted in their studies
a knowledge economy if the rate of upper beyond the level of compulsory schooling.
secondary school enrolment is less than As we know, public educational systems
55 per cent for both males and females at around the world begin to bifurcate with
a time when this rate exceeds 80 per cent the end of basic education, which is to say
in industrialised developed nations and from the upper secondary school level.
the countries of Central Asia? Indeed, the Consequently, it is possible to imagine that
Arab region lags behind most of the rest people might possess a glut of certain types
of the world in the three above-mentioned of knowledge and of a paucity of other Completed levels
variables, ranking sixth out of the eight types of knowledge due to the differences of education and
regions of the world and placing higher between the curricula used in the different official graduation
than South and West Asia and Sub-Saharan branches of secondary education and in the certificates do not
Africa only.9 different specialisations at the tertiary level. necessarily reflect
Moreover, completed levels of education
the true quality
THE NEED TO DRAW AN and official graduation certificates do not
ACCURATE PICTURE OF necessarily reflect the true quality of an of an individual’s
KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL individual’s knowledge and skills. knowledge and skills
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre; figures in columns C and D and average score are provided by Ramzi Salama/Report core team member.
*
Base averages reduced by 6.7 per cent (average over 100 per cent in the Arab countries in question) to correct for errors in the calculation
of gross enrolment figures, which may exceed 100 per cent.
**
It may be supposed for the sake of argument that the gross school life expectancy of a given age cohort may, under ideal circumstances,
approach eighteen years, as is expected in some countries of the world, such as Ireland and Norway. On the other hand, it may be
considered overoptimistic to hope to approach the twenty years that is expected for Australia and New Zealand. The figure of eighteen
years has therefore been taken as a maximum for the calculation of the expected figure for all Arab countries.
potential achievement in Kuwait, Saudi Saudi Arabia and Oman clearly lag well
Arabia, Oman, Djibouti, Sudan, and the behind the norm, whereas countries such
Comoros, whereas anticipated achievement as Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, and Egypt have
exceeds relative financial capacities in managed to ensure high opportunities
Bahrain, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, for the creation of knowledge capital in
Jordan, Syria, and Yemen, regardless of children, in spite of their limited financial
the calculated equation.18 In these terms, capacities.
80 Kuwait
Syria Lebanon
Oman
Iraq Morocco
70
Saudi Arabia
Yemen
60
Mauritania
50
Comoros
40
Sudan
30 Djibouti
20
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Libya 99 94 70 72 84
Bahrain 100 98 41 78 79
Jordan 99 76 50 67 73
Lebanon .. 72 58 67 ..
Qatar 97 96 24 67 71
Occupied
Palestinian 99 70 51 .. ..
Territories
Only two Arab
UAE 97 78 29 61 66
countries largely
Kuwait 99 99 24 .. ..
ensure opportunities
Egypt 85 77 44 56 66
Tunisia 95 68 38 56 64
for youth to obtain
Oman 98 79 23 44 61
the advanced
Algeria 92 58 26 56 58
knowledge for
Saudi Arabia 97 .. 36 44 ..
participating in the
Syria 93 32 19 56 50
knowledge society:
Iraq .. 32 20 56 .. Libya and Bahrain
Yemen 79 40 11 28 40
Morocco 74 34 14 33 39
Comoros 89 27 3 .. ..
Mauritania 66 20 4 22 28
Sudan .. 25 8 22 ..
Djibouti .. 16 3 .. ..
Somalia .. .. .. .. ..
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre; figures in columns C and D and “Average score” were composed by Ramzi Salama, Report core team
member.
*
As a percentage of the 80 per cent that forms a reasonable goal reached by some industrialised countries.
**
As a percentage of the eighteen years that constitute the reasonable maximum.
four categories in terms of their ability in the knowledge society: Libya and
to ensure advanced knowledge capital Bahrain (79 per cent to 84 per cent);
formation in young adults (ages 15 to B. Eight countries ensure a reasonable
24):40 level of opportunity: Jordan, Qatar,
A. Two countries larg ely ensure the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, (Lebanon,
opportunities for youth to obtain the Palestine, and Kuwait) (64 per cent to
advanced knowledge for participating 73 per cent);
80 Libya Bahrain
Jordan R2=0.572
Qatar
70 Lebanon
(percentage of potential maximum)
Tunisia UAE
Egypt Kuwait
Oman
60 Algeria R2=0.764
Saudi Arabia
50 Syria
Iraq
Yemen
40 Morocco
Comoros
30 Sudan Mauritania
Djibouti
20
10
0
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
120-130 Fail 15 0
131-140 Poor 26 15
141-150 Pass 28 22
151-160 Good 19 39
While there do exist
161-170 Very good 9 10
students in Arab
171-200 Excellent 3 14
countries in the
Total 100 100
higher performance
Source: UNESCO Regional Bureau report (Salamé and El-Murr, 2005)
categories, they
rule. The vast majority (about 70 per cent close to rivalling their USA counterparts.68 are the exceptions
compared with 37 per cent of their USA In Table 3-4, showing the results of the to the rule
counterparts) are clustered in the lower computer science test, we find the same
rankings. This extremely high figure raises percentages of failed marks for both the
grave questions concerning the quality of students from the Arab region and those
the human resource capital coming out of from the USA (15 per cent of each group).
higher educational institutions in the Arab The divergence begins from the poor
world. As to the specifics, students in the ranking upwards, with results in favour
Arab states are more or less on a par with of the USA students. Whereas the vast
their counterparts in the USA in a single majority of students from Arab countries
component in the business administration are split between the lower grade category,
programme: economics. They do not with 48 per cent receiving failed or poor
come off at all well in any of the other marks, and the middle category, with 47
components–accounting, management, per cent receiving pass or good marks,
statistics, finance, marketing, legal affairs
and international business administration– TABLE 3-4
all of which constitute essential applied
knowledge needed to participate in the Comparison of overall results of students in Arab countries
knowledge economy. and students in USA on the computer science test.69
The available data also points to telling Grade categories Ranking Ratio of students Ratio of students
discrepancies in how students from the in Arab countries in the USA (per
different participating universities (per cent) cent)
performed. None of the students from 120-130 Fail 15 15
the participating universities in Lebanon,
131-140 Poor 33 23
Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, and Algeria
attained the general average observed 141-150 Pass 32 19
FIGURE 3-4
Bahrain Kuwait
Libya
adults (percentage of possible maximum)
Mauritania
30 Yemen
20
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Per capita share of GDP in dollars
*
Libya (94) 80 72 82
Table 3-6 lists the Arab states in order of
how they rank on the scale of total actual Bahrain 94 80 72 82
or estimated quantitative components Qatar 88 72 71 77
of the knowledge society for each of the Jordan 86 74 69 76
three major strata: children, youth, and
adults. The table makes palpable the huge Lebanon 79 (73) 69 74
FIGURE 3-5
Bahrain
Knowledge capital among different age groups
Libya R2=0.6031
80
Jordan Qatar
Lebanon
(percentage of potential maximum)
Tunisia Kuwait
70 Egypt UAE
Algeria R2=0.8159
Oman
Syria
60 Saudi Arabia
Iraq
50 Morocco
Yemen
Comoros
40 Mauritania
Sudan
Djibouti
30
20
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
Per capita share of GDP in dollars
All indicators for which statistical evidence The creation of human knowledge capital
is available point to an overall decline in requires interplay between many diverse
the quality of the knowledge capital in factors. Foremost among these are the time
all areas in the Arab region. This should devoted to teaching and learning, the nature
not be taken to mean that Arab states are of the curricula and the competencies
totally deficient in quality or that there learners are expected to acquire from the
are not scattered islands of excellence various types of educational programmes.
and distinguished elites. These do exist in Also critical are the expectations of those
varying degrees from one country to the in charge of education and instruction
next and one field of specialisation to the towards learners in terms of learning and
next. Frequently, however, they are the performance, the opportunities available
exception that proves the rule. to learners to increase their knowledge,
For example, the number of class hours the quality of the instruction provided
allocated to maths in basic education is on by the human resources responsible The available data
a par with that in other countries for this for instruction, and the policies, plans,
for the Arab region
subject that is so essential to the formation programmes, and practices founded on
of knowledge capital. Yet, we find at the reliable pedagogical knowledge. Such are reveals considerable
same time that Arab students do not, as the considerations that are brought to bear disparity between
a whole, fare well in the international in the formulation, operation, revision, Arab countries in their
standardised tests that measure their maths and development of the instructional/ levels of spending
acquisition. In like manner, Arab countries educational process. on education
generally allocate a sufficient amount of Ensuring the requirements of quality
classes to physical education, yet rarely knowledge capital creation and its
do their athletes win high medals in the universalisation across the widest possible
Olympics or other such athletic competitions cohorts of children, youths, and adults
that demand outstanding performance. through formal education and continuing
Some students perform extremely well learning processes requires effective
480
460 Dubai
Lebanon
Student performance in mathematics
440
Jordan
420 Tunisia
FIGURE 3-6b
460
Lebanon
Student performance in mathematics (minus Dubai)
440
Jordan
420 Tunisia
340 R2 = 0.4571
Saudi Arabia
R2 = 0.6754
320
Qatar
300
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
500
Jordan
340
320 Qatar
300
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000
agents of the reform processes. As these for, and, as a result, these initiatives failed
processes did not provide for widespread to fully mature, yielding only partial results,
grassroots participation, the diverse sectors as can be seen in the indicators discussed
of society could not be brought to embrace in this chapter.
the reform aims and hence be mobilised Arab educational development drives
towards the realisation of their aims.92 have, as a rule, remained stuck in the rut of
Unfortunately, the reform initiatives that expansion, as opposed to reform, which
were launched in Lebanon and Morocco is why improvement has occurred only in
also proved unsustainable. In these cases, the quantitative indicators. In most cases,
follow-through proved weaker than hoped educational systems in Arab countries have
ICT index values for Arab countries and selected groups of non-Arab countries
(1995, most recent statistics with + and – change values)
10
9 Most Recent
1995
8
change
7
6
ICT Index (1-10)
5
4
3
2
1
0
Hi
UA ome
Qa
Ba
Ku
Up
Sa
Le
La n
Jo
Tu
Om
Lo
Su
Sy
Eg
Al
Ye ome
Dj
Lo nia
-1
or
au
gh
rd rica
ge
ibo
or
ria
ba ia
nis
tin
we
me
ud
da
w
yp
wa
hra
tar
pe
E
an
oc le in
an
ld
ria
rit
no
inc
iA
n
ia
ut
inc
rm
rm
Am
n
it
in
co
a
-2
i
rab
idd
idd
e
le
inc
co
om
me
e
Source: World Bank database, Knowledge Assesssment Methodology (KAM), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.asp on 13 February 2009.
FIGURE 4-2
Number of computers per 1,000 inhabitants, Arab region, and selected groups of non-Arab countries
Number of computers per 1000 inhabitants
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
0
ia
Le n
n
inc ntra a
ia
in
Ma eria
e c sia
n
co
an
ia
inc cou a
tar
e c ies
t
r m e an n Am s
ies
E
uti
yp
rld
c
da
da
no
me
hra
UA
Syr
idd om rab
idd d C eri
roc
Om
om l A
Qa
om ntr
ntr
Eg
bo
Wo
Alg
Su
Jor
ba
Ye
Tu
Ku
uri
Ba
r m inc i A
Mo
Dji
ou
ou
e
i
le e
le
pe p
Lo
access to information and knowledge the average number of computers per In most of the Arab
resources stored in various media. Figure 1000 inhabitants in all Arab countries falls countries the number
4-2 makes clear that in most of the Arab below the world average, approaching it in of computers per
countries the number of computers per Bahrain and Qatar, but falling perceptibly
person is less than the global average. With below it in Lebanon, Sudan, Jordan, Tunisia, person is less than
the exception of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and Oman. In the other Arab countries the global average
Internet users - Arab world, world, and selected non-Arab country groups by per capita GDP
1000 R2 = 0.7822
Internet users per 1,000 inhabitants
900 World
800
700
600
500
400
R2 = 0.6939
300
200
100
0
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000
Per Capita GDP in dollars
World Country groups Arab countries
FIGURE 4-4
Bandwidth of global internet access for the Arab world and selected non-Arab country groups
1900
1800
1700
1600
Bandwidth (bit per person)
1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
co
n
n
in
an
n
ia
ria
an
ia
ia
ies
ria
it
ies
tar
pt
i
ld
E
trie
me
da
no
ut
wa
rab
hra
nis
an
UA
oc
rd
ntr
Om
Sy
ntr
or
ge
Qa
ibo
Eg
Su
ba
n
Ye
rit
or
Ku
Jo
Tu
W
u
ou
iA
Ba
ou
Al
o
Le
au
Dj
M
ec
ec
ec
ud
om
om
om
Sa
inc
inc
inc
le
w
le
idd
Lo
idd
m
rm
er
we
p
Up
Lo
Price basket for internet (in US dollars per month) in some Arab countries,
worldwide, and in selected non-Arab groups of countries by income
Price Basket for Internet (US $/month)
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
ia
in
a
ia
co
Ma an
an
n
ia
ia
ies
s
ies
uti
e c pt
E
Up High e c rld
om ntrie
eri
da
me
no
wa
tan
nis
hra
rab
Syr
UA
roc
y
d
Om
bo
ntr
ntr
Qa
om o
nt
Alg
Jor
Su
ba
Ye
Tu
Ku
W
uri
Ba
iA
Dji
Mo
ou
ou
ou
Le
co
ec
Sa
om
inc
c
inc
inc
in
w
le
le
Lo
idd
rm
rm
pe
we
Lo
Source: World Bank database, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.asp
of countries for comparison. It shows access costs in Egypt are lower than in any
Internet access costs that the cost of internet access in most other Arab country, and lower even than
in Egypt are lower Arab countries is lower than the average those prevailing in the advanced nations.
than in any other value for all the world’s countries. Only Another matter worthy of attention is the
three Arab countries–Sudan, Mauritania, drop in internet access costs in Yemen
Arab country, and
and Djibouti–have a noticeably higher in comparison with its peers in the low
lower even than cost than the world average, and these income group of nations. The cost of
those prevailing in are countries that have only made modest access in ten Arab countries is much
the advanced nations progress, even with respect to the other less than the average cost among the
Arab countries, in obtaining ICTs. Internet higher middle income nations. In six
FIGURE 4-6
90
80
70
Percentage
n
h
an
ish
ese
ic
se
es
sh
s
rea
lia
nc
ge
ab
ine
ge
ag
gli
rm
an
an
Fre
Ita
ua
Ar
Ko
rtu
En
gu
Ch
Ge
Sp
Jap
ng
lan
Po
r la
en
he
pt
Ot
To
the indigenisation of knowledge tools and English 2039 203.5 21.1 430.8 29.4
technologies. However, the data neither Chinese 1365 755.1 20.2 276.2 18.9
put these matters in context, nor reveal Spanish 452 405.3 27.6 124.7 8.5
their actual contribution to the productive Japanese 127 99.7 73.8 94 6.4
employment of these technologies. French 410 458.7 16.6 68.1 4.7
German 96 121.0 63.5 61.2 4.2
THE ARABIC LANGUAGE AND Arabic 357 2063.7 16.8 59.9 4.1
THE INTERNET
Portuguese 240 668.0 24.3 58.2 4.0
Korean 73 82.9 47.9 34.8 2.4
The number of those using the internet
Italian 58 162.9 59.7 34.7 2.4
in Arabic approached 60 million at the
Top ten
beginning of 2008. That is, the access of languages
5218 278.3 23.8 1242.7 84.9
Arabic speakers to the internet is close to Other
1458 580.4 15.2 221.0 15.1
17 per cent of the population of the Arab languages
countries.7 This proportion falls below Total 6676 305.5 21.9 1463.6 100.0
the world average which is close to 22 Notes:
1) These statistics were updated in June 2008.
per cent. Arabic also has one of the lowest 2) Internet penetration is the ratio between the total of internet users speaking a language and the
penetration rates among the top-ten group estimated total population speaking that language.
3) Data derived from publications of the International Telecommunications Union, the Computer
of world languages on the net. While it Industry Almanac, Nielsen Net Ratings, and other reliable sources.
is close to the internet penetration rate 4) World population information comes from the U.S. Census Bureau.
For definitions and help in obtaining details on a number of languages see the website of
of Chinese speakers, the number of Site Surfing Guide
Chinese web pages tips the balance in Example for data interpretation: there are around 125 million Spanish-speaking users of the internet
favour of the latter language. As for Arabic and this number represents close to 9 per cent of world internet use. Of all those who speak Spanish
language penetration in comparison with (some 452 million people), 27.6 per cent use the internet. During the period 2001-2007, the number of
Spanish speakers using the internet increased by 405 per cent.
Hebrew, the latter comes out on top with
Source: Website of Internet World Stats in January 2009
almost 66 per cent penetration, placing
FIGURE 4-7
2500
Percentage Growth
2000
1500
1000
500
0
ese
an
sh
se
s
n
ish
se
es
n
ic
ge
lia
nc
rea
ab
ine
gli
ge
ag
rm
an
an
ua
Ita
Fre
Ar
En
Ko
rtu
gu
Ch
Ge
Sp
Jap
ng
lan
Po
r la
en
he
pt
Ot
To
TABLE 4-3
into groups according to the nature of the offer e-government services in the Arab
services provided, such as informational, countries over the last few years reveals that
one-way interactive or two-way interactive. most of them remain at the informational
The last of these extends to include sites stage.
that handle financial transactions and sites Table 4-2 presents the values of the
that allow networking with other sites. A indicator that measures the state of
review of sites that have been updated to readiness of the Arab countries to adopt
5.5
Availability of e-government services
4.5
4
(1-7)
3.5
2.5
1.5
1
a
in
pt
it
ia
cco
tar
isia
ies
ies
d
eri
da
rl
wa
tan
hra
UA
y
Wo
ntr
ntr
Qa
Eg
ro
n
Alg
Jor
Ku
Tu
uri
Ba
Mo
ou
ou
Ma
ec
ec
om
om
inc
inc
w
le
idd
Lo
rm
we
Lo
Source: World Bank database, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM). http://info.worldbank.org/etolls/kam2/KAM_page5.asp. on 12 December 2008
e-government applications in the years Figure 4-8 reveals that the average value
2005 and 2008.19 The table makes clear for the second group of Arab countries
The advanced nations that five GCC countries (the UAE, Bahrain, approaches the global average value on the
have accumulated a Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia) lead in indicator of availability of e-government
wealth of knowledge their readiness to adopt e-government services. It also makes clear that for the
applications. Jordan and Lebanon also Arab countries for which data is available
connected to occupy advanced positions in this regard. the level of e-government services exceeds
e-government Figure 4-8 gives indicator values for a that of the countries with average scores
initiatives because group of Arab countries pertaining to on the HDI and also exceeds the level of
major consulting firms availability of e-government services other groups of countries of the world.21
in these countries as used by the World Bank within the The advanced nations have accumulated
Knowledge Assessment Methodology a wealth of knowledge connected to
are planning and
(KAM) framework.20 It also gives the e-government initiatives because major
implementing average performance for some selected consulting firms in these countries are
e-government groups of countries. On the basis of the planning and implementing e-government
initiatives that revolve figure, the Arab countries can be divided initiatives and are supported by other
around the priorities into three classes. In the first are those that institutions devoted to research and software
and requirements
enjoy a high level of e-government services development. These initiatives revolve
(the UAE and Qatar). These are followed around the priorities and requirements of
of the citizen by a second group (Mauritania, Egypt, and the citizen. It is essential to build a similar
Bahrain) that have been able to secure a knowledge framework to put government
medium level of these services. The third services in the Arab countries on the same
group (Kuwait and Algeria) provide lower level as those of other countries of the
levels of e-government services than these world. This will require the acquisition of
two groups. knowledge on a number of levels as well
FIGURE 4-9
6 R2 = 0.6775
5.5
4.5
Bahrain
3
Morocco
2.5
Algeria
2
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000
Per Capita GDP in US $ (PPP)
BOX 4-3
400
Content creation in
the Arab countries is Per Capita Annual Consumptiton of Paper (Kilograms)
350
modest in comparison R2 = 0.8581
200 World
150
100
50 R2 = 0.44
Arab Countries
0
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000 50,000
Source: http://www.swivel.com/data_sets/columns/1000512 on 18 March 2009. Per capita GDP data derived from the World Bank database.
With regard to
traditional publishing,
consumption rates for at the present time. It can be said that content creation
writing and printing In relation to technical and in the Arab countries is modest in
paper in the Arab entertainment content in particular, the comparison with the promising internal
countries are an Arab countries–like many others–have, for market, though Arabic-speaking expatriate
decades, fallen victim to foreign content communities around the world are an
order of magnitude creation. While the public and private exception. As mentioned above, a brief
lower than those sectors in many countries of the world are look at the presence of Arabic on the
in the advanced playing a role in resisting this dominance, internet compared with other international
industrial nations, and a number of factors hinder such efforts in languages is enough to reveal the weakness
doubly lower when Arab countries. Among the most prominent of Arabic content creation, one of whose
of these are the lack of political will and components is Arabic digital content.
the least developed
the weakness of the enabling environment With regard to traditional publishing,
Arab countries are (ESCWA, 2003, in Arabic). Business consumption rates for writing and
taken into account incubators aimed at ICT development and printing paper in the Arab countries are
utilisation, when well administered and an order of magnitude lower than those
furnished with the necessary incentives to in the advanced industrial nations, and
produce and distribute content, are capable two orders of magnitude lower when the
of overcoming many of these obstacles least developed Arab countries are taken
(see Box 4-4). into account. These rates are also markedly
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Per Capita Annual Consumption of Paper (Kilograms)
lower than predicted by the levels of GDP content production. Marked efforts have
in comparison with other countries of the been recently made in Arab countries to
world. See Figure 4-10, which plots paper support the generation and distribution of
consumption against per capita GDP for Arabic digital content in traditional modes
most of the world’s countries (blue dots) and on the internet. These efforts, however,
and some Arab countries (squares).36 are still insufficient in comparison with
Figure 4-11 depicts the correlation those made by other countries. Numerous The distribution
between paper consumption and internet indicators taken from other fields point to of Arabic digital
use worldwide, revealing the shortfall in the fact that the Arabic presence on the content via the
content production, in both its traditional net remains limited compared with that of internet requires
and digital formats, in the Arab countries other languages.
the adaptation of a
(ESCWA, 2007, in Arabic). The current
situation is not expected to improve in the ARABIC LANGUAGE INTERNET number of available
absence of strategies to deal with a whole CONTENT AND PROBLEMATICS technologies to
series of inhibiting factors such as lack of make them Arabic
cadres specialised in the production of a The production and distribution of Arabic compliant
range of content, scarcity of resources, content are beset by many and varied
limited cooperation to confront these, and obstacles which become more severe when
the rarity of research and development confronted by the new obstacle of internet
programmes related to the technical penetration. This is because the distribution
obstacles and other issues that hinder of Arabic digital content via the internet
BOX 4-5
Arabic Language Processing Systems: machine translation, grammar checking, and searching
The production and deployment of Arabic digital content on the elements from morphological and lexical aspects. Among the faults
net requires the availability of translation systems to and from of the third system is the errors it generates when dealing with words
the main languages. More effective Arabic search engines are also with multiple and compound affixes.
required. Technologies to mine, process, and retrieve content also Arabic search engines: there are an extremely limited number
require automated indexing and summarising systems.38 In addition, of search engines for Arabic texts on the internet. Many of the
it is essential to develop advanced systems for automatic speech sites which allow the discovery of Arabic texts are no more than
processing including automated speech analysis, generation, and directories comprising lists of Arabic website addresses (the portal
recognition in Arabic.39 www.arabsgate.com is a prime example). The Google Arabic search
Machine translation systems: a number of software systems engine is reckoned to be the most used Arabic search engine on
for machine translation to and from Arabic exist. One prominent the net. In addition to being far from meeting most of the search
example is the Google system. This adopts statistical methods which requirements for cultural and educational applications, it also enjoys
make it impossible for the quality of its translations of texts to go only modest success in meeting most of the requirements of the
beyond very modest limits, rendering it unfit for serious translation. ordinary user. This search engine does not take into account the
There is also software that adopts an overly simple linguistically and complex derivational and morphological formation of Arabic words
lexically based analytical model. Since their launch around three in comparison with the simple formation of English words for
decades ago, attempts to improve the performance of such machine which the system was designed. It searches for a word as it appears
translation systems have failed. Another system developed by an in the text without paying attention to its lexical lemma, which may
Arabic company is based on a transformational model and relies on appear in as many as a thousand forms as a result of the affixing of
a limited base of linguistic rules and lexical data, which limit the prefixes and suffixes to the Arabic word. This search engine is also
possibilities of improving its performance. incapable of broadening the scope of a search on the basis of the
Grammar checking: neither of the two grammar checking users search terms. Thus, when the user enters a word like “boy”
systems in use uses an automated parser, relying instead on a store (fata), “desert” (sahra’), or “tree” (shajara), the search engine will not
of contextual examples. They are thus incapable of recognising return texts containing the plurals “boys” (fityan), “deserts” (sahara),
grammatical errors that occur when the words and syntactical or “trees” (ashjar). And when searching for a verb, if the user enters
elements in question are far apart and of adding the syntactically a third-person form “[he] condemns” (yudin), Google will not return
significant final vowels to words, especially in the long sentences other related morphological forms like “[you/she] condemn/s”
prevalent in Arabic texts. Of the three systems for morphological (tudin), “[we] condemn” (nudin), and “condemners” (mudinun).
analysis, two are distinguished by complete linguistic coverage of the
whole of the Arabic lexicon and one of these enjoys a coherent Adapted from the draft background paper for the Report by ‘Abd al-Ilah al-
linguistic foundation which makes it capable of deriving semantic Diwahji, in Arabic
Innovation system index for the most recent period in comparison to 1995
4
Most studies on
3
innovation place
2
the performance of
1
scientific research 0
and research centres
Ma n
in
n
n
ia
co
n
ia
ia
a
an
tar
ia
uti
t
E
it
da
me
yp
da
no
eri
hra
rab
tan
nis
wa
Syr
roc
UA
Om
Qa
bo
Eg
Su
Jor
Alg
ba
Ye
Tu
Ba
Ku
iA
uri
Mo
Dji
at the heart of the
Le
ud
Sa
development process
Most Recent 1995
and production cycle
Source: World Bank database, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page5.asp.
12
10
Hi HD
World
8
Innovation Index
MENA
UAE
6
Jordan Qatar
Med HD
Oman Kuwait
Egypt
Lebanon Tunisia
4 Morocco
Algeria Saudi Arabia
Low HD Syria
Bahrain
2 Yemen
Sudan
Mauritania
0
Djibouti
0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000
BOX 5-1
Record levels are spent in small European France 2.09 1.34 0.75
countries such as Ireland and Finland, European Union
1.84 1.11 0.73
where annual expenditures on scientific (27 states)
research per capita reach $575 and $1,304 China 1.42 1.01 0.41
invigorate the contributions of the private faced by the industrial, agricultural, and
sector, whose contributions to scientific service sectors in return for financial
research have in fact increased recently. compensation. The few research centres
However, this increase remains modest, around the world that have been successful
and includes that spent on research and in this approach have not been able to
development within companies. The cover more than a small amount of their
primary reason for this may be that annual expenditure. Thus researchers in
production and service sectors typically Arab countries strive to obtain foreign
rely on imported, ready-made technology, funding for their projects and fail when
on the basis of turn-key agreements. their research falls outside the priorities of
While the World Trade Organisation has international programmes. Typically the
placed tight restrictions on state support for targets set by such programmes are limited
production sectors, spending on research to cooperation and the establishment of
and development is exempted from these research networks among states in the
restrictions.As such, most advanced states global North and South.
have approved the allocation of large There is growing interest among most
budgets for research and development, and Mediterranean Arab countries in benefiting
have granted a clear priority to research from the significant support offered
Foreign funding may
projects that include effective partners in by Europe as part of the programmes
lead to distancing the production and service sectors. Within launched through the Barcelona Process.
researchers and their this context, most industrial states consider Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia submitted
teams from research spending by production and service the largest number of research proposals
that is tied to national sectors on research and development to to the call of the European Union’s Sixth
policies and priorities
be tax exempt, which creates an additional Framework Programme for Research and
incentive for companies to spend in this Technological Development (2002-2006)
field and thus maintain their competitive for proposals and received the highest
strength in international markets. number of acceptances. Yet European-
The reliance of scientific research Arab scientific partnership remains slow-
centres on internal resources requires that moving in Palestine, Syria, Lebanon,
they make efforts–with no guarantee of Jordan, and Algeria (Figure 5-5).
their results–to market their scientific and Bilateral international support is often
technological services and to offer their offered to fund research centres on the
experience in helping to solve problems basis of the political relations between
600
500
400 Number of
projects
300 Number of
contracts
200
100
0
Algeria Egypt Occupied Jordan Lebanon Morocco Syria Tunisia
Palestinian Territories
the countries involved. Foreign funding the experience and efforts of its most
may lead to distancing researchers and competent scientists is decreasing. Open-
their teams from research that is tied competition programmes of international
to national policies and priorities. This support prioritise limited social,
often affects the most competent of developmental, and scientific goals, leading
researchers because these are best able some Arab researchers to avoid them,
to attract foreign support. Thus the particularly when they address sensitive
ability of the Arab world to benefit from issues such as the manifestations of religious
Research
Research
Programmes
and on-going evaluation.
Support, 8% 67%
• The institutions should have the ability
to take initiative and to represent the
Source: ICARDA Annual Report, 2007, http://www.icarda.cgiar.org/Publications/AnnualReport/ICARDA_AR2007.pdf scientific community at national and
international events through innovative
programmes and projects that have
fundamentalism, issues related to minorities, positive, short-term local impact in the
and the development of democracy. context of regional and global scientific
In light of the above, researchers are— concerns.
rightly—asking for increased funding for
The achievements of their research, while the public sector, THE OUTPUTS OF ARAB
Arab institutions are pro-active funding agencies, and private SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
considered meagre institutions are—again rightly— stipulating
greater impact and more creative and While the outputs of research and
both by international dependable returns. There is no solution innovation are numerous, peer-reviewed
standards and by to this problematic other than building publications and patents are the most
their own self- clear, programmatic partnerships between common and expressive indicators of
evaluation and that knowledge-producing institutions and scientific activity. Among the many
of their societies researchers on the one hand and those who global databases on the quantity and type
benefit from their research on the other. of scientific articles published in peer-
The achievements of Arab institutions reviewed journals the most prominent are
are considered meagre both by international France’s Pascal (CNRS-INIST) database
standards and by their own self-evaluation and the Science Citation Index (SCI)
and that of their societies. It can be argued database published by the Thomson
on what the Arab world has and has not Saudi Arabia 575 ..
accomplished. The most significant of Tunisia 571 0.80
these is that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco 443 0.87
and Morocco lead the Arab countries in Algeria 350 0.49
scientific publishing. Jordan 275 0.55
The total number of scientific articles Lebanon 234 0.35
published in sixteen Arab countries in Kuwait 233 ..
2005 was 4,859.15 Egypt held first place
UAE 229 ..
with 34 per cent of the total number of
publications, followed by Saudi Arabia Oman 111 ..
and Tunisia with 11.8 per cent, while the Syria 77 0.11
(TWAS, 2005).
2
Thompson Reuters, Scientific Citation Index, http://scientific.thompson.com/products/co. on 30 August 2008
FIGURE 5-6
2500
Egypt
500
0
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Environment
and Agriculture
24%
TABLE 5-7
period. Close inspection of the content 2 United States 5.7 Germany 14.9 United States 32.3
of these scientific publications allows 3 Germany 4.1 Saudi Arabia 12.4 United Kingdom 10.1
us to categorise it into five research foci. 4 Italy 3.7 Japan 10.3 Canada 6.9
Energy studies comprise a high percentage 5 Belgium 3.6 United Kingdom 8.6 Bahrain 4.5
of these publications, followed by the
6 Canada 3.6 Canada 5.3 Italy 3.8
agricultural and environmental sciences
and then the basic sciences. Engineering 7 United Kingdom 3.1 Italy 4.1 Saudi Arabia 3.2
and industrial science publications are on a 8 Morocco 2.2 Belgium 3.1 Germany ..
par numerically with those of public health 9 Spain 2.1 France 2.9 Australia ..
and biology. 10 Algeria 1.5 Spain 2.2 Egypt ..
Source: Thomson Reuters and the Science and Technology Observatory (Observatoire des Sciences et Technologie - OST,
GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT Quebec, Canada), 2007
0.1 Jordan
0
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006
Source: Thomson Reuters, Science Citation Index, 2007, and ESTIME Programme, 2008
0.4
THE ARABIC LANGUAGE AND Climate change Commercial law
INNOVATION 0.2
1980 and 2007, while French-language Democratic associations Systems and laws
Andalusia
publications formed only 30 per cent. This
improvement did not include basic and
In Arabic In French
applied science research, which continued
to rely upon foreign languages (Figure Source: Waast et al., 2007, in French.
5-9). Among 34,000 papers published by
researchers in the Maghreb during the last
decade, French was the most commonly Lebanon and Palestine, the overwhelming
used language, out-ranking Arabic (Figure majority of research papers in the human
5-10). As for the Mashreq (eastern) sciences were published in Arabic, which
Arab countries, with the exception of explains the dearth of Arab social science
FIGURE 5-10
Languages used in human and social science research publications Among 34,000
in the Maghreb, 2007 papers published by
researchers in the
Other Languages
3%
Maghreb during
English
15% French the last decade,
42%
French was the
most commonly
used language,
out-ranking Arabic
Spanish
20%
Arabic
20%
relationship between heritage and the Source: The European Audiovisual Observatory, www.obs.coe.int, 15 December 2008
production, industry, and technology
markets. In contrast, certain attempts
to transfer or copy architectural models productions participate in international
that do not take Arab particularities into festivals even as some Arab countries
consideration have failed. continue to ban public movie theatres.
In contrast, the cinema scene is both A telling sign that cultural and artistic
lively and full of variety. Arab cinema has innovation is opening up in the Arab world
a lengthy history that began in the early is the growing number of cinema screens
twentieth century in Egypt, which still and audiences. Data on cinema audiences
remains the leader of Arab cinematic shows that Egypt, Bahrain, and Morocco
production today. Arab interest in cinema take the lead with regard to the seven
has expanded since then, however, to Arab countries for which detailed data is A telling sign that
include Morocco, Lebanon, and some available in both the number of viewers cultural and artistic
Gulf countries, which now have advanced and their ratio to the number of cinemas innovation is
cinema production studios. Arab cinematic (Figure 5-10). In so far as film-making is a
opening up in the
Arab world is the
BOX 5-9
growing number
Arab Innovators in Architecture and Music of cinema screens
As set forth in his book Building with the People,23 The works of Rif‘at Chadirji are characterised and audiences
Hasan Fathi’s view of the relation between by a deep theoretical and practical assimilation of
architecture and the human led him to establish local roots of expression and their translation into
an alternative form of architecture that rejects the technical terms of modernity. Chadirji has also
the copying of Western buildings. In Egyptian made theoretical and critical contributions through
rural architecture he found artistic, technical, and his writings that address debates in the field of
environmental solutions for facilitating daily life and architecture and has established an annual award for
maintaining a relationship with the land. pioneering Arab architects.
Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers
The second half of the twentieth century is as well as inspiring poetic images and a revival of
marked by the pioneering experience of the late Lebanese rural heritage in compositions that vary
Rahbani brothers, Asi and Mansur, which culminated from the romantic and traditional to the modern.
in their collaboration with the enchanting voice of After performing hundreds of their songs and scores
Fairuz, imprinted in the imagination of successive of musical plays every year, and after exploring new
generations as an accompaniment to their joys, vocal horizons with her son Ziyad, Fairuz remains
sorrows, rituals, and longings. The Rahbani school an innovator today. She shines in the hearts of
has had a radical impact on Lebanese art in its her public, remaining at the heart of public taste,
reliance on short songs, subtle vocal expression, and despite the shifts in generations, technologies, and
high-level orchestral and theatrical performance, artistic preferences.
knowledge but maintains it and contributes Source: World Bank, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM), 2008
to its circulation and development.
Introduction This proposed Arab plan is the result of the The demands
investigation and diagnosis we have undertaken and priorities put
In this chapter we aim to bring a set of elements in the Report. We do not claim that the forward are neither
together into a working plan based on the demands and priorities we will put forward are
principles and action mechanisms required to either comprehensive or exhaustive, nor do we comprehensive nor
close the knowledge gap in the Arab countries, claim to hold a monopoly over the truth or the exhaustive, nor do
bringing their people into the knowledge society right answers in this field. We do intend to set they claim to hold a
as participants in knowledge production. It is down comprehensible and motivating markers monopoly over the
true that the analysis of the preceding chapters to indicate the route. truth or the right
has revealed the existence of some progress in
answers in this field.
certain aspects of the knowledge society. It has, As we have stated in the other chapters of
however, also highlighted many gaps which must the Report, the right to knowledge should The programme
be considered the cornerstone of human
be dealt with seriously and resolutely. At this development. This right requires the generalisation
intends to set down
point, we will seek to put together a vision and of the benefits of knowledge and of participation comprehensible and
a programme of action designed to make a in its reproduction according to the needs of our
societies, and it is within this context that the body motivating markers
contribution to filling the gaps in the landscape of elements of the proposed plan take form. The to indicate the route
of Arab knowledge. plan’s higher aim is to spur public debate and
positive movement towards a knowledge society
built on solid foundations and under the firm
We do not wish to confront the knowledge control of Arab society through the partnership
gap by complacently repeating suggestions for of its various components. Thereafter the
self-reliance or dependence on the past and strategies and mechanisms formulated and ranked
our existing knowledge reserves; the knowledge by consensus can be adopted.
revolution requires us to transcend such reactions,
for Arab society faces a major challenge in the field
of knowledge, and concerted efforts are called for
if we are to build the knowledge society.
THE ARAB KNOWLEDGE GAP: The plan’s higher
DEFICITS AND HOLES aim is to spur public
If knowledge is to be acquired and a debate and positive
society built around it, if it is to be deployed In the Report we have identified the nature movement towards
in the service of development and progress, of the Arab knowledge gap and highlighted
a knowledge
certain demands must be met. In this chapter, a body of data and conclusions, the most
we will content ourselves with sketching a important of which are: society built on
general architecture of our vision and making • An understanding of the defining solid foundations
proposals intended to assist in closing the characteristics of the knowledge and under the firm
knowledge gap in the Arab countries. This society, which is under continuous control of Arab
architecture will allow us to construct a body of formulation, by an investigation of
society through
elements related to the enabling environment its most prominent components and
and the indigenisation of knowledge, as well problematics. In the first and second the partnership of
as to assemble recent data that clarify the chapters, the Report has attempted to various sectors
requirements for innovation in the field of survey the difficulties of the subject and
knowledge, so that the best may be extracted lay the groundwork for their solution by
to serve human development. investigating the environments that assist
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 219
in the birth and formation of the knowledge to the right to development. These two
society. form the underpinnings of the concepts
In its theoretical framework, the in question. Equally, this chapter sketches
The most conspicuous Report aims to survey the poles that the major features of the knowledge
feature of the define the boundaries of the knowledge society, to provide a framework for the
knowledge society society. It summarises these as three– diagnosis and study of our own situation.
technology, economy, and society–and Based on this framework, this situation
is its relationship highlights the interconnection and should be reconstructed in the light of
to networking and interaction among them. The report also local specificities linked to Arab reality
networks, which points to the most conspicuous feature and the efforts required to indigenise the
play prominent of the knowledge society, which is its mechanisms of the knowledge society
roles in the various relationship to networking and networks, in the service of the hoped-for Arab
which play prominent roles in the development project.
aspects of the life of
various aspects of the life of modern Chapter 2 concerns itself with a
modern societies societies. Chapter 1 also endeavours to discussion of the enabling environment
formulate an operational definition to required in order to put the knowledge
help formulate specific choices as to society in place. Such a discussion is
indicators and indices for the knowledge a necessity given that the different
society appropriate to Arab aspirations. manifestations of the knowledge society
Chapter 1 also aims to construct the in the contemporary world have roots
general theoretical frames of reference and foundations that are essential to its
for the indicators, classifying the features existence. The chapter goes on to address
The Report could ascribed to the knowledge society into the issue of relationship of knowledge to
never have addressed two broad orders. The first of these is freedom, starting from the assumption that
the reality of related to philosophical positivism and knowledge is freedom and development
its quantitative predilections based on and that there can be neither knowledge
knowledge in the technological determinism. The second nor development without freedom. This
Arab world without is the modernising and liberal trend link does not, however, imply that the
linking the right to contained in the systems of the two are mechanically and inseparably
knowledge to the international human rights conventions. bound. The chapter also goes beyond this
right to development The chapter puts forward a synthesis of controversial diagnosis and surveys the
a sample of new questions and challenges general conditions that help to build the
raised globally and in our Arab nation, knowledge society. These are to be found
which we assume is not isolated from in environments that assist in bridging the
the changes underway elsewhere at the knowledge gap. These call for political
beginning of the twenty-first century, and institutional, and equally cultural and
with its defining revolutions in and intellectual, reform, in addition to reform of
transformations of knowledge. These the media and renewal of communications
include those related to the question of and ICT platforms.
identity, political participation, gender, and Arab societies cannot cross the
Knowledge is the development of the Arabic language. thresholds of the knowledge society
freedom and Likewise, the chapter raises the need for a and launch themselves into knowledge
development new code of ethics equal to the demands production and creation without
and there can be of this task and prioritizing humankind, nurturing environments and supporting
and outlines the features of Arab solidarity institutions. The experiences of states
neither knowledge and cooperation, in addition to the values that have entered the knowledge society
nor development of openness to, and intercommunication before us affirm this necessity. Hence
without freedom with, humanity at large. the Arab societies are called upon to
The Report could never have addressed prepare the ground appropriately for
the reality of knowledge in the Arab world the possession of knowledge and the
without linking the right to knowledge absorption of its innovations and benefits.
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 221
found between the city and the country and language and how new technologies may
among the economic segments of society. deal with it in terms of recognition, speech,
Chapter 4 deals with ICT as a central and semantics, so as to preserve it and
pillar of the knowledge society. It devotes enshrine its role as a vehicle for culture, an
attention to the state of this technology in axis for development, and a building block
the Arab countries as revealed by the data of human civilisation.
available in international reports, despite The chapter explains that an ideal
the major weaknesses of these. The utilisation of ICT in building the Arab
A review of national chapter aims to address the demand for knowledge society lies beyond the
plans in the Arab the revitalisation of the Arabic language capabilities of the individual Arab states.
states, particularly to make it the nurturing vehicle required Cooperation among concerned institutions
if the issue of Arabic knowledge and must be strengthened on all levels. Success
those with middle digital content are to be taken truly in in acquiring and deploying modern
and low incomes, hand, and one capable of formulating new technologies is dependent on the ability of
clearly reveals symbols that will facilitate the operations multi-specialist teams to cooperate within
obstacles that of the digital industry and help to create each Arab country and with regional and
prevent the inclusion Arab knowledge horizons that can deal global partners. National policies and
collaboratively and advantageously with regional initiatives designed within this
of technological
new knowledge systems. The chapter frame must take account of the tools
development as reveals the general importance of ICT provided by ICT, such as virtual research
high priority in the health, economic, social and labs and open source methodologies.
knowledge fields. It highlights the deficits Chapter 5 deals with innovation in
and gaps that exist in the Arab countries the Arab world, starting with a review of
and formulates a set of proposals and the concept of innovation that expands
initiatives that will help to raise ICT the indicators developed by certain
in the Arab countries from its current international reports in this respect. The
level to one capable of operationalizing chapter conducts its review according
knowledge through institutions capable of to three major axes. The first relates to
ensuring that it is exploited to the utmost policy for innovation in scientific and
in the Arab countries’ various areas of technological knowledge. Highlighting
productive activity. the innovation gap in these arenas and
The Report makes clear that one of clarifying the limitations of existing
the chief features of the current era is Arab research centres, it contends that
the unprecedented interrelationship the latter are incapable of participating
between the development of technological actively in building the knowledge society
capabilities and the various aspects or of coordinating and cooperating
of economic and social development. either among themselves or with leading
An ideal utilisation
However, a review of national plans in international institutions in this respect.
of ICT in building the Arab states, particularly those with The second axis treats the specifics of Arab
the Arab knowledge middle and low incomes, clearly reveals creativity in the arts, literature, humanities,
society lies beyond obstacles that prevent the inclusion and social sciences from a new perspective,
the capabilities of the of technological development as high making clear that the concept of creativity
priority. The open policies required for goes beyond the concept of inventiveness,
individual Arab states
the effective deployment and utilisation which is linked to technology and its
of ICT confront major obstacles arising tools and underlining the contribution of
in many cases from excessive government imagination and thought to the creation
control and the complex relationship of of realms and concepts that enrich the
technological development to many other life of the emotions and fertilise the mind.
issues. The Report affirms the necessity The third axis of the chapter discusses the
of focusing more research on the effects question of revitalising Arab performance
of technological progress on the Arabic in innovation and puts forward a set of
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 223
their ways of life and their skills in work Careful observation of the state of
and production. The existence of a knowledge in the Arab world, as set forth
knowledge gap today means that, despite in the report, calls us to speed up the
this, Arab societies have been unable to preparation of the appropriate means to
The positive access the gains made by technological consolidate the foundations for building
achievements in progress, and unable to indigenise new the knowledge society. In particular, the
the Arab region are media and mechanisms capable of taking acceleration in the rates of global progress in
constrained by many advantage of new forms of knowledge in technology, culture, economy, and society
societal, cultural, and
the development field. This lack extends calls on us to engage, without hesitation,
to the social and cultural milieus. Despite in an attempt to seize the reins of
political restrictions, the many cultural bright spots in the Arab knowledge. This means providing it with
most of which can region in its modern era, this achievement enabling environments, supporting its
be ascribed to the must seem modest and timid in comparison general diffusion–through advantageous
limitations placed with the achievements of other regions partnerships–and making available its
on freedom in its of the world. At the same time, it is tools and technologies, with the aim of
broadest sense constrained by many societal, cultural, effectively deploying them in the service
and political restrictions, most of which of human development and the defeat
can be ascribed to the limitations placed of the aspects of underdevelopment
on freedom in its broadest sense and on prevailing in our societies.
productive intercommunication with the The new possibilities for permanent
self and with the world. human development furnished by the
BOX 6-1
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 225
creativity and innovation. Accordingly, POSITIVE INTERACTION WITH
freedom in all its manifestations is a THE GROWING NEEDS OF
principle central to knowledge and a pillar SOCIETY
One of the key that must be in place if we are to reach
foundations of the the threshold for the realisation of human Starting with the organic connection
vision necessitates welfare. Hence to call for an expansion of between knowledge and the developmental
the scope of freedoms and a reduction of needs of Arab societies–whether in the
permanent positive the restrictions and limits upon them is economic, social, or cultural development
interaction between to call for Arab society to equip itself to spheres–one of the key foundations
the strategies engage with the knowledge society. of our vision decrees the necessity of
and mechanisms ‘Freedom’ here has a meaning far wider permanent positive interaction between
of the drive for than that of its political or economic the strategies and mechanisms of the drive
significations. Freedom, in the context of for development and action to establish
development and
being one of the foundations for the building the knowledge society in the Arab region.
action to establish the of the knowledge society, is a horizon that This permanent interaction built on the
knowledge society equips society to participate collectively accurate identification of developmental
in the Arab region in building the path to knowledge and needs places the efforts to establish the
engaging in the production, deployment, knowledge society within their correct
and expansion of the Arab individual’s framework. That framework consists of
gains in overall human development. which is that of support and agitation for
human development and of expansion of
FIGURE 6-1
intercommunication
the development
needs of society
Openness and
Freedom
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 227
deployment of knowledge at the service joint research workshops mediated by
of sustainable human development and the new forms of ICT, the few, isolated,
the well-being and dignity of the individual collective scientific laboratories in our
Arab. Fundamental to each of these axes universities have yet to reach the level
are specific sector-based programmes of institutionalisation that would ensure
connected to the propulsion of our that the means, tools, and incentives of
societies towards seizing ownership of research become permanent. Equally,
the knowledge society. It must be stressed existing relationships of cooperation
here that the axes are composite, based on among Arab universities reveal the absence
Freedom and results and conclusions of the observation of any clear plan for fruitful cooperation
institutionalisation of the state of knowledge in its various capable of halting the waste of capacities
are complementary domains as formulated within the Report. arising from the ongoing brain-drain of
Arab researchers and experts.
THE FIRST AXIS: THE By way of example, the enabling
CREATION OF ENABLING environment for ICT requires concern for
ENVIRONMENTS most basic forms of human capital, due to
its importance in terms of technical and
The construction of the Arab knowledge administrative skills and knowledge, in
society mandates first the preparation addition to its role in education, scientific
of appropriate enabling environments. research, and technology.
This is because such a society is nurtured
and developed in the shadow of these THE SECOND AXIS:
environments, which embrace the THE TRANSFER AND
expansion of the scope of freedoms, the INDIGENISATION OF
establishment of nurturing institutions, KNOWLEDGE
and the shaping of legal systems to give
backing to the props and vision of the Entering the knowledge society cannot
knowledge society. This also mandates be achieved without the transfer of
the creation of incentives and initiatives its tools and technologies and their
to help revitalise spaces for innovation, diffusion through the various structures
by fostering traditions that celebrate of society. In the Arab world, the transfer
innovation and innovative people. and indigenisation of knowledge are a
The enabling environment is one historical process that requires stamina
condition for the achievement of the and a will to work on numerous fronts.
In the Arab world, knowledge society. Without it, the The development of the Arabic language,
the transfer and continuity and development of any results the revitalisation of Arab thought,
indigenisation of achieved cannot be guaranteed. and the adoption of the historical and
Institutions and legislation are thus the comparative pre-requisites of modern
knowledge are a
basic guarantee for all areas of innovation thought can be considered priorities
historical process in the knowledge arena. Provision of a in the process of indigenisation and
that requires stamina climate of freedom also equips actors in implantation and in preparing society
and a will to work the field of knowledge to give and innovate to learn from the achievements of the
on numerous fronts more. Freedom and institutionalisation knowledge society. To development of
are complementary. The impoverishment the Arabic language it will be necessary
in the sphere of innovation in scientific to pay greater attention to translation,
research in the Arab world reflects the for example. Here the cross-fertilisation
absence of the institutions that should required by the knowledge society occurs
furnish the conditions necessary to implant between languages, innovations, and
the mechanisms of innovation in our modes and methods of thought—hence
countries. While in knowledge societies its importance as a process of interaction
today we speak about laboratories and that reinforces intercommunication
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 229
are born. The rhythm of labor in the for the consolidation of the values and
knowledge society is fast and continuous. mechanisms of the knowledge society.
If we are conscious that the challenges The ongoing nature of the task has
facing us in the Arab world pertaining been alluded to in discussing a number of
Priorities are subject to the knowledge society are major and the axes in recognition of the interactive
to a great degree complex, then taking the road of the nature of these goals and the necessity of
of flexibility since aforementioned axes and engaging with renewal and review.
them is also included among these complex Needless to say, this chronological
they are open to activities. Hence our insistence on the elucidation does not exclude intersection,
numerous possibilities intersection, interrelation, and interaction interrelation, and reformulation so as
and could be adjusted among them. to equip actors to find the appropriate
to different realities. programmatic formulas and the suitable
They are measures ASPECTS OF ACTION TOWARDS and appropriate ordering of priorities for
BUILDING THE COMPONENTS action. Priorities, thus, are subject to a great
that start from the
OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY degree of flexibility since they are open
acceptance of the to numerous possibilities and their pace
general vision set We now move on to identify a set of could, as we have explained, be tuned to
out above, and suggested actions and sketch the broad different situations. They are measures that
attempt to find outlines for adopting and translating the start from the acceptance of the general
routes to modify
preceding vision and ambition. From the vision set out above, and attempt to find
start of our presentation of the axis of routes to modify them based on the varied
them based on the priorities we have affirmed that what we environments of Arab reality. Thus any of
varied environments are putting forward remains bound to the these elements and actions can be dealt
of Arab reality requirements of current Arab reality in the with either on the level of the single state
knowledge arena as it has been propounded or the region, or on the level of the Arab
in the preceding chapters of the Report. world as a whole, in a way that suits that
Here we aim to formulate precise state of the region’s level of knowledge
suggestions, capable of application when performance.
the will is available and the resolve becomes
firm enough to undertake this move. ACTION IN THE AREA OF THE
It is difficult to rank these issues in ENABLING ENVIRONMENT
order of importance, by virtue of the
different positions of the Arab countries We take as a starting point for the
on the scale measuring their mastery programme of suggested actions a sketch
of the systems and foundations of the of the major features of the field which
It is no longer knowledge society. We have therefore is supposed to form the incubator
possible for today’s decided to set them down according to appropriate to the knowledge society.
societies to draw up the timeframes realistically needed for We consider that, in the immediate term,
their application and the absorption of the the preparation of this environment
development plans
features necessary to build up momentum. requires facing up to the Arab present
without reference to There are three timeframes: by, in particular, expanding the sphere of
the knowledge gains Immediate, covering the current and general freedoms and reviewing existing
in various activities present. development plans to find ways to
and practices on the Medium-term, which covers a harmonise them with the demands of the
local, regional, or timescale determined by the facts of knowledge society.
each country individually, according to These two steps have special
international levels its specifics and the ways it deals with the significance, for freedom is the hoist
innovations and tools of the knowledge by which knowledge and development
revolution. are raised. Also, when formulating
Long-term, which looks to the development plans or reviewing those that
horizon of ongoing and long-term activity exist, it should be borne in mind that it is
Priorities for action to build the elements of the knowledge society in the Arab world
Enabling environments
Review of development
plans to ensure compatibility
no longer possible for today’s societies to and dominant cultural reality in the Arab
draw up such plans without reference to region becomes apparent. Hence, the need
the knowledge gains in various activities to expand the circles of enlightenment and Preparing
and practices on the local, regional, or to form spaces for free thought continues organisations,
international levels. to call for mechanisms for their diffusion institutions, and
In the medium term, the proposed and generalisation within Arab societies.
laws to support
priorities are related to educational and Certainly, this is no easy task. Nevertheless,
cultural policies, and also to institutions it is possible to orient the channels, and embrace
and legislative frameworks. Preparing institutions, and platforms that practice motion towards the
an environment to make and frame the cultural work so that they formulate, knowledge society
knowledge society requires a re-examination diffuse, and generalise new intellectual is a priority capable
of all related policies, including general values. Educational institutions, for
of furnishing the
cultural policies and existing educational example, play a central role in this respect.
policies. It also calls for a review of the We have, therefore, linked cultural policy enabling environment
reality of the institutions and legislative to educational policy in our review due to with frameworks
frameworks consistent with efforts aimed the profundity of the relationship between for action that are
at supporting entry into the knowledge them. independent of
society. When we know that Arab culture Preparing organisations, institutions, the involvement
in general is suffering from the dominance and laws to support and embrace motion
of certain stagnant forms of thought and towards the knowledge society is a of individuals and
based upon perceptual styles ill-suited to priority capable of furnishing the enabling create accumulation
the requirements of the age, the need for environment with frameworks for action
plans that take into account the prevailing that are independent of the involvement
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 231
of individuals and create accumulation. success of the framework provided by
The institutional nature of knowledge acts these environments and of building the
sidelines transient characteristics, and grants institutions that ensure the transfer and
them the solidity that allows them to gather indigenisation of knowledge.
and develop successes as they proceed.
If we admit that To the overviews we have mentioned, ACTION IN THE FIELD
language is a we can add that regarding the priority OF TRANSFER AND
vehicle–as well as a of developing the Arabic language. This INDIGENISATION OF THE
intersects with both educational and KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY
medium–for culture cultural policies. The development of the
and knowledge, then Arabic language and the upgrading of its We should point out here that the word
we must consider formal aspects and grammar has become indigenisation has a range of synonyms.
the development of an urgent matter, especially in light of There are synonyms that employ
the Arabic language the upheavals being experienced in the geographical, agricultural, or psychological
ICT field, where an operational language metaphors such as transfer, implantation,
as of high priority
has formed that is composed of a set or absorption. Each of these ascribes to
in the area of of symbols related to instruments and the signification of indigenisation a specific
preparing an enabling devices of the highest precision. This has meaning, or variety of meanings, which
environment for the led to the creation of a language within the expand its general semantics, particularly
knowledge society language. It has also led to the widening when what is intended, in the context of the
of the existing linguistic divide between present Report, is an allusion to material and
our language and the new forms of also other, symbolic, elements. “Material
knowledge and their technologies. If we elements” here refers to the platforms and
admit that language is a vehicle–as well as tools, while “symbolic elements” refers
a medium–for culture and knowledge and to pure information transferred from the
that the linguistic actor has the capacity environment where it originated to other
to build an operational language that spaces for reproduction.
produces knowledge and can share in its No one should think that the issue
creation, then we must give development is purely mechanical. We connect
of the Arabic language high priority in the indigenisation with the principle of
preparations for an enabling environment inscribing local, specific, and intrinsic
for the knowledge society. character both during and after the process
We connect We add to this the necessity for of indigenisation, so that transferred
immediate, medium, and long term action information becomes part of the structure
indigenisation with
in two matters of the utmost priority. of the society to which it has been
the principle of The first is related to the allocation of transferred and it does not remain simply
inscribing local, sustainable financial resources, and the a piece of information that has been
specific, and second concerns the need for ongoing copied and is alien to its new environment.
intrinsic character, assessment of the state of the enabling Indigenisation is the absorption and
environment, and even the state of testing of what is transferred. In the
so that transferred
knowledge in its various dimensions proposed strategy, it is a composite and
information becomes and elements. Action in these areas ongoing act. It is an act and an activity that
part of the structure will enjoy special significance because we assume launches itself immediately and
of the society to financial resources are the foundation takes on specific forms over the medium
which it has been stone of the plans necessary to allow term. However, it is not an act that ceases
transferred the enabling environment to take off when knowledge assumes a productive
and realise success for its programmes. and creative presence within Arab society.
The second point addresses the need Rather, it continues as a realisation of
for ongoing review and assessment to the principle of intercommunication
reveal the degree of progress in the with the self and with the world. Before
enabling environment and the degree of reviewing, therefore, some diachronic
FIGURE 6-3
Priorities for action to build the elements of the knowledge society in the Arab world
Translation Continuous
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 233
the promotion of translation, which means will undoubtedly find it difficult
gives Arab thought the opportunity for to make a rapid transition towards the
cultural cross-pollination through which knowledge society. Quantitative expansion
to reformulate itself in light of the gains in some fields of knowledge requires not
and achievements of modern knowledge. only the availability of large financial and
T hinking about knowledg e material resources; the major challenge is
The major challenge indigenisation in the Arab world calls for latent in the availability of qualified human
lies in changing work on two levels: the institutional, which resources capable of developing policies,
the general is included in the framework of the strategies, plans, and educational curricula,
enabling environment, and the systemic, implementing these, and evaluating them.
culture of society which takes into consideration the various The need to place investment in human
and the priorities dimensions of society. We thus face a educational resources at the top of the
of officialdom project on the level of society as a whole, priorities for action throughout the Arab
throughout the Arab and not a project specific to a particular world is consequently obvious.
world, so that there is sector or interest. Given that the current The above must be accompanied by
picture of Arab knowledge performance attention to the quality of education and
a universal conviction
is characterised by the absence of a its outcomes and to ensuring its quality
that building solid comprehensive perspective, this sort of at its various stages. In this context, we
knowledge capital action will benefit us by linking together the envisage that attention should be given to
requires the creation different components of the knowledge ensuring quality in higher education and its
of learning curricula field. Indigenisation the spirit of the new fit with societal needs, given that it forms
in accordance with
initiative, expanded reliance on ICT, and the main locomotive for responding to the
the building of institutions of creativity requirements of the knowledge economy
a solid educational and innovation will serve as hoists to raise and in securing comprehensive integrated
philosophy and the level of knowledge, skills, technologies, development.
a clear vision and the various material and non-material The major challenge here lies in
resources that, we assume, will multiply changing the general culture of society and
within a knowledge society that aims the priorities of officialdom throughout
to overcome the challenges of human the Arab world, so that there is a
development. universal conviction that building solid
Some Arab countries of limited financial knowledge capital requires the creation
of learning curricula in accordance with
a solid educational philosophy and a clear
BOX 6-3 vision. The consolidation of a culture
The Indigenisation of Science of productivity, efficiency, and quality, a
culture of responsibility and accountability,
Science is not the sum of knowledge the surrounding environment, and so and a culture of information and decision-
and results acquired and transported the measure of their progress is the level making based on reliable knowledge are all
from one place to another. Rather it is of self control that this environment
the effort for indigenisation that springs achieves [...] particularly important in this regard.
from the need of society itself; it is a Science and technology are not Confronting these challenges will
spirit and a method, i.e., standards, commodities that can be exchanged and undoubtedly require the reinforcement
values, and interactions. It is not to be imported. They are, before anything
possessed by derivation, borrowing, else, the organisational process of of intercommunication and cooperation
transportation, or purchase, but by indigenisation that implants traditions among Arab states to a much greater extent
effort, the effort to implant, indigenise, of creation and innovation in the than is now the case through relevant
and deploy, taking into consideration systems and institutions of society, for
local environmental and societal needs technological progress does not lie in regional and international organisations.
and the possession of the ability to the acquisition of imported hardware, These states are still working in isolation,
formulate scientific, technological, but in the creation of local skills that
and national policies. Science and can secure an industrial efflorescence each failing to take advantage of the
technology have a structural systemic with deep roots in society. expertise of the others and only rarely
dimension whereby they interact with turning to the examples of successful
Source: Salim Yafut, Makanat al-‘Ilm fi al-Thaqafa al-‘Arabiyya (The Place of Science in Arab Culture), Dar al-Tali‘a, Beirut, practices dotted here and there on the
pp.39-41. Arab educational scene.
FIGURE 6-4
Priorities for action to build the elements of the knowledge society in the Arab world
Knowledge deployment
Establishment of a relationship
between production (services and Continuous
goods) and knowledge
Continuous linkage to
economic and social Continuous
development plans
Continuous linkage to the needs
and applications of development Continuous
in its various aspects
Continuous development of
education and academic and Continuous
vocational training
Continuous measurement
of progress (assessment Continuous
and review system)
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 235
by deployment transcends the merely goals is the establishment of a strong
mechanical and imitative use of tools to relationship between production and
assist knowledge and the service economy. society’s developmental needs on the one
It is linked to the creation and reproduction hand, and knowledge on the other, since
Deployment is linked of methods capable of turning the it is no longer possible for new modes of
to the creation and knowledge society and economy in a the service and commodity economy to
direction that confronts the needs and develop—in societies whose needs and
reproduction of satisfies the growing desires of people aspirations are developing at break-neck
methods capable in a world marked increasingly by the speed—without being based on gains in
of turning the phenomena of consumption. In response knowledge. Economic movements in the
knowledge society to these desires, the rhythm of production tourism sectors, in market creation, and
and economy in is rising, and companies, entrepreneurs, e-commerce, for example, have begun
and minds are in competition to create today to create economic, social,
a direction that
markets that follow particular cycles in managerial, and financial spaces whose
confronts the needs order to accommodate the increase in laws and prospects of liberalisation we
and satisfies the production. cannot yet regulate. There must, therefore,
growing desires Most of the actions in this axis are be greater deployment of these methods
of people split between the medium and long term and mechanisms if we are to empower
and operate in the field of planning and ourselves to enter the new fields of the
implementation with regard to economic, knowledge society and economy, with all
social, and cultural development, the horizons that this opens for work and
the strengthening of ties between development.
production and knowledge, and the fields A further action whose effect will
of academic and vocational training. Here, likewise be felt over the long term with
aim is to make us capable of successfully regard to knowledge deployment is the
deploying the fruits of the knowledge strengthening of channels of support
society and economy in the service of for criticality in Arabic culture. The
human development in its broadest sense. achievements of the new knowledge and
One of the most important of these the new methods for the deployment of
BOX 6-4
BUILDING THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY IN THE ARAB WORLD: A VISION AND A PLAN 237
experiences prior to ours so much as it separately in order to sketch the specific
means building an index that responds to features in advance of the kind of action
the requirements of Arab reality and seeks required according to the size and nature
to give knowledge a status that will equip it of the gap.
to act as the locomotive for renaissance and In the vision and plan proposed here, we
development. This suggestion should not be have been content to remain at the general
considered utopian, albeit utopias have their and common level. We have identified the
significance. Rather, it is included within the demand for a comprehensive perspective
plans to help overcome the Arab knowledge on the knowledge society. We have also
gap through a step by step process of sketched the essential requirements for
construction that assumes that an Arab integration with the knowledge society,
knowledge index is only a first step on a namely, human and material resources,
long path. working tools, and horizons to which to
aspire. The centre of gravity of this report
CONCLUSION has been the defence of the principle of
“intercommunication” through partnership
The various The various proposals included in this and productive and creative integration.
proposals included vision and related to the establishment of The Report’s vision has been translated
in this vision and the knowledge society in the Arab world into an achievable proposal and
related to the are in alignment with the spirit and choices includes markers along the route to
of human development. At the same time, intercommunication, a route that will lead
establishment of the mention must be made of expanding the to integration into spaces of knowledge
knowledge society in significations of the features associated that fly the flag of humanity and human
the Arab world are in with the knowledge society. Those linked intelligence in the name of partnership
alignment with the to the containment of technological and creativity.
determinism and of the transformation
spirit and choices of
of ICT into a replacement for the
human development mechanisms of critical knowledge and
historical investigation, which evokes both
the total human dimension and historical
specificities, are of particular importance
“A nd I say that life is indeed
here. In the measures for action that we darkness save when there is urge,
have laid out in general fashion in the
previous pages, we have been content to And all urge is blind save when
point to the major landmarks on the path
leading to the highway of the knowledge there is knowledge,
society.
From time to time, along the three axes
whose priorities for action we have been And all knowledge is vain save
concerned to expound, we have paused
to consider examples drawn from certain
key sectors without going into detail. The
when there is work...
”
Report considers that current knowledge GIBRAN KHALIL GIBRAN
performance has in common shared
requirements, which may be subsumed
under the major heading of the knowledge
gap, which we consider to be dissimilar
in the different parts of the Arab world.
This calls for greater understanding of the
Arab knowledge reality in each country
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ANNEX 1. LIST OF BACKGROUND
PAPERS (AUTHOR NAME;
PAPER TITLE)
Over and above its inadequacies, the provide a scientific basis for pertinent
available data on knowledge in the decision-making and for follow-up on these
Arab region is characterised by being decisions. The current trend towards the
widely scattered, difficult to obtain, and publication of periodic Arab knowledge
unavailable in aggregated form at the reports strengthens the importance of the
regional level or at that of groups of mentioned database. It is expected that
Arab countries. Because of the weakness these reports will, on the one hand, greatly
or absence of coordination between benefit from the proposed database and
producers of such data, or between them will participate, on the other, in supporting
and users of the data, the data varies in the database through the data they
its methodological underpinnings, its gather, synthesize, and analyse, and the
chronological attribution, its classification, measurements, comparisons, and analyses
and other specifications. For the most they draw from these data.
part, knowledge data in the Arab countries In addition to the role of the proposed
is prepared in a fashion similar to that in database in facilitating the acquisition and
non-Arab countries without any attempt use of knowledge data, it is proposed that
to draw up definitions, methodologies, it play the supplementary roles of creating
and measurements that conform to the opportunities for dialogue between
reality of knowledge in the Arab region. producers and consumers of knowledge
These factors set major constraints to the data, and equally among producers of
possibility of using available knowledge this data, so as to serve the development
data for comparative purposes among of knowledge data regarding the Arab
the Arab countries and for preparing countries and its linkage with other data.
measurements and analyses that serve the From another perspective, it is proposed
knowledge economy in the Arab region. that the suggested database participate in
The vital role played by statistical data creating an awareness of the significance
in the knowledge economy demands that of this data and of the role it can play
the shortcomings in the data on knowledge in drawing up and implementing policies
for the Arab region -- its fragmentation, for knowledge development and in
its methodological unsuitability, and the strengthening capacity for their production
weakness in the coordination of efforts to and use. Nevertheless, the present proposal
make it available -- be dealt with. The best goes beyond the traditional construct
step to achieve this at present may be to set of a statistical database to encompass
up an integrated database on knowledge various other tasks and activities for the
in the Arab region that is subject to development of knowledge data in the
ongoing update and development and that Arab region, the outcome of which will
opens up prospects for cooperation and be an advanced database providing a
development. Creating and maintaining highly effective service to producers and
such a database could play an important consumers of these data.
role in strengthening interest in knowledge The most important beneficiaries of the
in the Arab region, stimulate debate and proposed database project are producers
dialogue among concerned parties, and and users of knowledge data on the Arab
The World Bank uses the Knowledge According to this methodology, the
Assessment Methodology with the object knowledge economy is quantified by
of measuring and analysing the knowledge means of a numerical index known as
economy. This methodology is based on the the Knowledge Economy Index (KEI).
supposition that the knowledge economy This is calculated from the data of twelve
comprises four pillars: economic incentive indicators, three of which form a single
and institutional regime, education and pillar. Table A-1 presents these indicators
human resources, the innovation system, and their values with regard to the Arab
and ICT. The methodology currently countries. To calculate the index, the
comprises a total of eighty-three indicators values of the indicators are transformed
that are constantly being updated on the into normalised values. The normalised
World Bank’s website.1 value for an indicator for a specific country
TABLE A-1
TABLE A-2
Knowledge Economy Index for the Arab countries compared to other countries
Economic Difference
Education Information and Knowledge
Incentives and Innovation between the
Country and Human Communication Economy
Institutional System highest and
Resources Technology Index
Regime lowest pillar
KEI value among 135 countries of the world
Algeria 2.6 3.5 3.7 3.2 3.3 1.1
Bahrain 6.9 4.3 5.8 7.2 6.1 2.9
Djibouti 1.2 1.4 0.5 1.7 1.2 1.2
Egypt 3.6 4.5 4.4 3.5 4.0 1.0
Iraq 0.3 4.2 2.4 3.6 2.6 3.9
Jordan 5.8 5.7 5.5 4.6 5.4 1.2
Kuwait 7.0 5.0 5.1 7.3 6.1 2.3
Lebanon 4.8 4.7 5.0 5.8 5.0 1.1
Libya 1.5 3.9 5.6 2.5 3.4 4.1
Mauritania 4.0 1.8 0.7 1.9 2.1 3.2
Morocco 3.9 3.7 2.0 4.2 3.4 2.2
Oman 7.4 5.1 4.2 4.9 5.4 3.1
Qatar 6.0 5.8 5.3 7.1 6.0 1.8
Saudi Arabia 5.4 4.0 5.0 5.9 5.1 1.9
Sudan 0.7 2.0 1.3 3.5 1.9 2.8
Syria 1.6 3.5 3.0 3.5 2.9 1.9
Tunisia 5.3 4.6 4.1 5.0 4.7 1.2
UAE 7.0 6.8 4.6 7.1 6.4 2.5
Yemen 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.8 0.1
Ranking among 135 countries
Algeria 109 91 94 99 96 18
Bahrain 48 76 53 38 48 38
Djibouti 123 134 132 118 132 16
Egypt 91 71 80 93 83 22
Iraq 135 78 106 89 108 57
Jordan 55 55 57 73 62 18
Kuwait 43 66 66 36 47 30
Lebanon 69 68 72 62 68 10
Libya 120 83 56 106 93 64
Mauritania 83 125 129 115 116 46
Morocco 87 88 109 78 92 31
Oman 37 65 87 66 63 50
Qatar 52 54 61 43 49 18
Saudi Arabia 61 80 71 57 67 23
Sudan 131 122 120 96 120 35
Syria 118 94 100 95 104 24
Tunisia 65 69 88 65 72 23
UAE 45 43 77 42 43 35
Yemen 116 126 114 116 122 12
3
Variation in the knowledge economy with 2
regard to the Arab countries is visible on
1
three main levels: within the individual
Arab country, among the Arab countries, 0
E it in ar n an ia n ia pt co ya ria ria raq nia dan en uti
UA uwa ahra Qat Jorda Om Arab bano Tunis Egy oroc Lib Alge Sy I ta Su Yem jibo
and between the Arab countries and the K B
u di Le M Ma
uri D
Sa
countries of the world. Given the lack of
sufficient data to calculate the KEI at the Source: World Bank databas, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM).
level of the geographic or demographic
TABLE A-3
in the top quartile–that among countries Computers per Tariff & Nontariff Barriers
1000 people
whose KEI is 7.5 or more. In fact, no
Arab country appears in the top 35 per Telephone per Regulatory Quality
cent. Eight Arab countries fall within the 1000 people
0
second highest quartile–countries whose
Tertiary Enrolment Rule of Law
KEI ranges from 5.0 to 7.5–and these are (% gross)
the six Gulf Cooperation Council states
and Jordan and Lebanon. Seven Arab Secondary Enrolment
(% gross)
Royalty and License Fees
Payments and Receipts
countries fall in the third quartile with Adult Literacy Rate
Scientific and Technical Journal Articles
KEI scores of 2.5 to 5.0: Tunisia, Egypt, (% age 15 and above)
Patent Applications Granted
Per Million Population
Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Syria, and Iraq. by the USPTO Per Million Population
5
THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE
INDICATORS AND INDICES OF
4
THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
3
FOR THE ARAB COUNTRIES
2
Overall economic
9 16.1 85 .. ..
performance
Economic Incentive and
19 16.9 89 1 8
Institutional Regime Index
* This annex was prepared by Mohammed H. Bakir in the third quarter of 2008.
1
World Bank website (Knowledge Assessment Methodology), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page3.
asp?default=1.
2
The values given in the table differ slightly from the values shown on the World Bank website. This is because
the addition of data concerning Iraq, Libya, and Sudan alters the total number of countries included, and in
consequence their rankings, which means a change to the normalised values of the indicators.
GENERAL INDICATORS
Table 1: Total population, population growth, and proportion of children in the Arab region
Source: World Population Prospects 2006 Revision, published 2007. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf on 12 February 2009.
* 2004 data
Source: UN, Statistical update of the tables of the Human Development Report 2007-2008, Fighting Climate Change: human solidarity in a divided world. http://hdr.
undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_EN_Complete.pdf and http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDI_2008_EN_Tables.pdf on 13 April 2009.
(a) Figures from 2005. (b) Estimated inflation rate for 2007. (c) Figures from 2006.
Sources:
Column 1: World Bank, http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/DDPQQ/member.do?method=getMembers&userid=1&queryId=135 on 12 February 2009.
Column 2: IMF, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/download.aspx on 12 February 2009.
Columns 3 and 4: UNCTAD database, http://stats.unctad.org/FDI/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=1254.
Column 5: Arab Monetary Fund, 2008 http://www.amf.org.ae/pages/XlsToHtmlViewer.aspx?filename=uploads/Docs/ECONOMIC%20DEPT/Eco_Ind/INDFRM08.xls on 12 February 2009.
Column 6: UNDP, Office of the Human Development Report, http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics on 12 February 2009.
Column 7: OAPEC, Annual Statistical Report 2007, http://www.oapecorg.org/publications/ASR/A%20S%20R%202007.pdf on 12 February 2009.
Column 8: UNDP, Office of the Human Development Report, http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics on 12 February 2009.
Arab countries
Algeria 3.25 2.90 0.35
Bahrain 6.02 6.89 -0.87
Djibouti 1.15 2.65 -1.50
Egypt 4.03 4.20 -0.17
Jordan 5.53 5.08 0.45
Kuwait 6.01 5.71 0.30
Lebanon 4.86 4.99 -0.13
Mauritania 2.35 1.79 0.56
Morocco 3.45 3.68 -0.23
Oman 5.37 4.71 0.66
Qatar 6.15 5.81 0.34
Saudi Arabia 5.15 4.66 0.49
Sudan .. 1.40 ..
Syria 2.90 3.04 -0.14
Tunisia 4.73 4.10 0.63
UAE 6.66 6.22 0.44
Yemen 1.80 1.83 -0.03
Neighbouring and comparison countries
Iran 3.39 3.15 0.24
Turkey 5.61 5.41 0.20
Israel 8.22 8.45 -0.23
Cyprus 7.55 7.49 0.06
Malaysia 6.06 6.03 0.03
India 3.12 3.14 -0.02
China 4.35 3.43 0.92
Top-ranking countries
Denmark 9.58 9.59 -0.01
Sweden 9.52 9.48 0.04
Finland 9.37 9.56 -0.19
Holland 9.32 9.49 -0.17
Canada 9.21 9.23 -0.02
US 9.08 9.50 -0.42
UK 9.09 9.39 -0.30
Geographic regions of the world
Middle East and North Africa 5.38 5.48 -0.10
Africa 2.80 3.13 -0.33
East Asia and the Pacific 6.59 7.05 -0.46
Europe and Central Asia 6.35 6.06 0.29
G7 8.76 9.07 -0.31
Latin America 5.07 5.40 -0.33
South Asia 2.53 2.57 -0.04
Income level
High-income states 8.31 8.61 -0.30
Upper-middle-income states 6.21 6.11 0.10
Lower-middle-income states 4.10 4.18 -0.08
Low-income states 2.08 2.29 -0.21
World 8.01 8.18 -0.17
Source: World Bank database, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page6.asp on 13 February 2009.
* The Knowledge Economy Index is calculated from twelve indicators. Values are on a scale of 0-10; the top 10 per cent of states score in the range 9-10, the next highest
10 per cent of states score in the range 8-9 and so on.
Sources:
Columns 1-3: World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report 2008/2009 and Arab Competitiveness Report, http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/index.htm
and http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Arab%20World%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm on 12 February 2009.
Column 4: Simple Average of columns 1-3.
Column 5: Keith Hylton created this index for the Antitrust World Reports (http://antitrustworldwiki.com). The results for the indicator are calculated by measuring the
breadth of the overall competition law on a positive scale of 0-30.
Column 6: The ratings on this index are based on the results of the analyses in the background paper by Deena Waked (in English). A rating of 1 indicates fully dependent,
2 indicates semi-independent, and 3 indicates fully independent.
Source: World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators 2007: (Voice & Accountability - Political Stability & Absence of Violence - Government Effectiveness -Regulatory
Quality - Rule of Law - Control of Corruption).
http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp on 14 February 2009.
Kuwait 61 12.63
Lebanon 66 14.00
UAE 69 14.50
Qatar 74 15.50
Comoros 89 20.00
Bahrain 96 21.17
Mauritania 105 23.88
Algeria 121 31.33
Morocco 122 32.25
Oman 123 32.67
Jordan 128 36.00
Djibouti 134 41.50
Sudan 135 42.00
Tunisia 143 48.10
Egypt 146 50.25
Somalia 153 58.00
Yemen 155 59.00
Iraq 158 59.38
Syria 159 59.63
Libya 160 61.50
Saudi Arabia 161 61.75
Occupied Palestinian Territories 163 66.88
Remark: The lower the value of a state’s press freedom index, the better the situation for press freedom.
Source: Reporters without Borders, Report on Worldwide Freedom of the Press 2008, http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025 on 10 June 2009.
Table 9: Adult literacy rates by gender in the Arab states 1980 and 2005
1980 (or closest three years) 2005 (or closest three years)
1980 (or closest three years) 2006 (or closest three years)
1980 (or closest three years) 2005 (or closest three years)
Source: World Bank database (Knowledge Assessment Methodology), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page6.asp on 13 February 2009.
* The index value falls on a scale of 0-10 and is calculated from three key indicators: adult literacy rate, secondary enrolment, and tertiary enrolment. The top 10 per cent of states score in the
range 9-10, the next highest 10 per cent of states score in the range 8-9 and so on.
Gender Gender
Male Female Total Male Female Total
parity parity
(000s) (000s) (000s) (000s) (000s) (000s)
index index
Source: Database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, http://stats.uis.unesco.org/ on 1 June 2009.
Source: Database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, http://stats.uis.unesco.org/ on 25 February 2009.
Table 15: Ratios of gross enrolment in upper secondary and tertiary education and average school life
expectancy in the Arab countries and the other regions of the world 2006 (or the closest two years)
Source: Database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, http://stats.uis.unesco.org/ on 25 February 2009.
Algeria 5 30 14 19 10 7 9 6
Bahrain 8 26 13 18 11 9 7 8
Comoros .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Djibouti .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Egypt 9 38 9 17 8 7 8 6
Iraq 11 26 8 16 13 11 7 7
Jordan 10 27 10 16 15 9 7 6
Kuwait 12 25 16 14 12 5 10 8
Lebanon 0 20 22 16 15 11 10 6
Libya 12 23 4 20 13 9 10 9
Mauritania 10 24 18 18 4 11 11 3
Morocco 10 25 19 18 10 5 9 5
Occupied Palestinian
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Territories
Oman 17 26 9 17 11 7 7 6
Qatar 15 25 17 15 10 6 5 6
Saudi Arabia 28 26 4 14 9 9 4 6
Somalia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Sudan 18 28 9 17 9 4 9 4
Syria 8 29 8 16 10 10 10 8
Tunisia 5 28 24 14 9 8 5 6
UAE 13 24 16 17 11 7 7 6
Yemen 20 26 5 17 9 9 5 5
Average 11.7 26.4 12.5 16.6 10.5 8.0 7.8 6.2
Standard deviation 6.4 3.7 6.1 1.7 2.6 2.1 2.1 1.5
Source: Compiled by Ramzi Salamah, member of the Report’s core team, on the basis of data from the International Database on Education, publications of UNESCO’s
International Bureau of Education, Geneva, 2006.
Source: Compiled by Ramzi Salamah, member of the Report’s core team, on the basis of data from the International Database on Education, publications of UNESCO’s
International Bureau of Education, Geneva, 2006.
Gross enrolment in
Literacy rates
upper secondary education
Country Gender Gender
Male Female Total Male Female Total
Parity Parity
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Index Index
Source: Compiled by Ramzi Salamah, member of the Report’s core team, on the basis of data from the International Database on Education, publications of UNESCO’s
International Bureau of Education, Geneva, 2006.
Algeria 19 30 77 64 4 44
Bahrain 8 52 92 69 0 30
Comoros .. .. .. .. .. ..
Djibouti 31 48 69 39 0 ..
Egypt 4 .. 95 .. 1 ..
Iraq 17 22 78 39 5 35
Jordan 11 61 88 49 1 28
Kuwait 0 0 98 71 2 37
Lebanon 15 47 84 54 1 35
Libya 26 50 72 52 2 38
Mauritania 4 13 96 25 0 ..
Morocco 17 45 77 46 5 32
Occupied Palestinian Territories 10 49 90 50 0 ..
Oman 20 41 79 54 1 22
Qatar 3 87 97 68 1 39
Saudi Arabia 14 21 84 65 2 40
Somalia .. .. .. .. .. ..
Sudan .. .. .. .. .. ..
Syria 12 47 83 .. 5 ..
Tunisia 23 26 70 68 7 55
UAE .. .. .. .. .. ..
Yemen 15 13 85 22 0 31
Algeria 1 .. 9 8 36 .. 14 32
Bahrain 3 8 8 9 53 .. 9 11
Comoros .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Djibouti .. .. 2 9 31 .. 5 55
Egypt .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 100
Iraq 19 .. 18 5 21 .. 14 23
Jordan 20 11 12 11 26 2 16 4
Kuwait .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 100
Lebanon 3 9 12 12 42 1 18 3
Libya 12 .. 20 10 18 .. 18 22
Mauritania 4 .. .. 6 20 .. 13 57
Morocco 2 4 5 17 51 1 20 1
Occupied Palestinian
27 .. 7 11 32 .. 14 9
Territories
Oman 30 3 9 11 20 .. 8 18
Qatar 12 .. 4 14 46 .. 6 18
Saudi Arabia 24 5 3 14 15 .. 32 6
Somalia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Sudan .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Syria .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Tunisia 1 .. 8 18 22 .. 18 33
UAE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Yemen .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Source: Statistics of the World Health Organisation, 2007, http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat2007/en/index.html on 14 March 2009.
Social
Medicine Maths and
sciences,
and pure and Literature Other / not Number
Education Engineering law, and Agriculture
Country health applied and arts specified of
(%) (%) business (%)
sciences sciences (%) (%) graduates
administration
(%) (%)
(%)
Bahrain 8 10 10 10 40 .. 9 14 3184
Djibouti 0 0 0 0 14 .. 8 .. 280
Egypt .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 100 342902
Iraq 16 10 26 4 20 3 10 10 87849
Jordan 16 11 9 19 28 2 10 4 42294
Lebanon 5 11 13 8 44 0 16 3 25700
Mauritania 0 0 0 5 17 0 12 66 2602
Morocco 12 5 6 9 31 1 18 18 48162
Occupied
Palestinian 23 7 9 12 32 0 17 0 12567
Territories
Oman .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8280
Qatar 32 4 5 11 38 0 10 0 1386
Saudi Arabia 28 5 3 16 13 0 30 5 82659
Tunisia .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 100 56559
Algeria 7.7 4.5 6.2 8 5 7 9.8 6.8 8.3 10.9 8.3 9.6 11 9 10
Bahrain 10.5 7.6 9.1 9.1 8.2 8.7 11.2 9.7 10.5 13.1 13.7 13.5 13 14 14
Comoros 3 1 2 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Djibouti 3 1 2 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Egypt 7.7 4.5 6.2 8 5 7 9 6 8 10 7 9 11 8 10
Iraq 8.4 3.5 6.0 11.0 5.5 8.4 12.2 9.1 10.8 12.0 8.7 10.4 11 8 10
Jordan 8 6 7 9.2 7.6 8.4 9.4 9.0 9.2 10 10 10 12 13 12
Kuwait 10.4 8.3 9.4 10.6 9.5 10.1 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Lebanon 8 6 7 9.2 7.6 8.4 9.4 9.0 9.2 10 10 10 12 12 12
Libya 10.8 5.6 8.4 13.0 10.1 11.6 13.4 11.1 12.3 .. .. .. 13 12 13
Mauritania 3 1 2 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 3 4
Morocco 5 3 4 5.8 3.2 4.5 8.1 4.8 6.4 8 5 6 8 5 6
Occupied
Palestinian .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Territories
Oman .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 8 8
Qatar 9.0 10.3 9.7 9.7 11.6 10.3 10.6 11.4 10.9 11.8 13.2 12.6 12 13 12
Saudi Arabia 5.2 2.1 3.7 6.6 3.8 5.3 7.2 4.8 6.0 8.2 6.2 7.2 8 7 8
Somalia 3 1 2 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Sudan 3 1 2 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5 4 4
Syria 10.1 5.1 7.7 10.8 6.7 9.0 11.4 8.0 9.7 11.9 9.3 10.7 11 9 10
Tunisia 7.7 4.5 6.2 8 5 7 9.8 6.8 8.4 12.0 9.6 10.9 11 10 10
UAE 8 9.5 9 9.0 10.3 9.7 9.7 11.6 10.3 10.6 11.4 10.9 11 12 11
Yemen 3 1 2 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 8 3 5
Source: Database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics with extrapolations (Ramzi Salamah).
Source: These indicators were calculated on the basis of data available in the database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics with extrapolations. The figures are to be interpreted as follows:
1 = literacy; 2 = completion of primary education; 3 = completion of the upper stage of basic education; 4 = completion of the upper stage of secondary education; 5 = completion of a
bachelor’s degree (see the body of the text for further explanation.)
Algeria .. ..
Bahrain .. ..
Comoros .. 24.1
Djibouti 8.7 22.4
Egypt 4.7 15.1
Iraq .. ..
Jordan .. ..
Kuwait 5.4 13.5
Lebanon 2.6 12.0
Libya .. ..
Mauritania 3.1 9.2
Morocco 6.5 27.1
Occupied Palestinian Territories .. ..
Oman 4.0 24.7
Qatar 2.7 19.6
Saudi Arabia 7.2 27.6
Somalia .. ..
Sudan .. ..
Syria .. ..
Tunisia 7.1 20.8
UAE 1.7 25.4
Yemen .. ..
Source: Based on data from the database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Source: Based on data available in the database of UNESCO Institute for Statistics on 25 February 2009.
Table 32: Number of patents granted in the US in 2007 and spending on research and development
Algeria .. ..
Bahrain 0 ..
Djibouti .. 0.34
Egypt 11 0.19
Iraq 0 ..
Jordan 1 ..
Kuwait 10 0.20
Lebanon .. ..
Libya .. ..
Mauritania .. ..
Morocco .. 0.62
Occupied Palestinian Territories .. ..
Oman 1 ..
Qatar .. ..
Saudi Arabia 37 ..
Somalia .. ..
Sudan .. 0.33
Syria 3 ..
Tunisia .. 0.63
UAE 11 ..
Yemen .. ..
Korea 7264 2.64
Chile 27 0.61
Source: US Patent and Trademark Office, 2007. http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_all.htm. Statistics of the Human Development Report, UNDP, 2008. http://hdr.
undp.org/en/statistics/ on 25 February 2009.
Source: World Bank database (Knowledge Assessment Methodology ), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page6.asp on 14 February 2009.
* The index value falls on a scale of 0-10 and is calculated from three key indicators: Total royalty payments and receipts in US$ per person, number of patent applications
granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office per million people, and the number of scientific and technical journal articles published per million people. The top 10 per
cent of states score in the range 9-10, the next highest 10 per cent of states score in the range 8-9 and so on.
Number of
Expenditure on
researchers working in Royalty and license Patents
research and
The Arab countries 1 the fields of research fees payments applications
development
and other country and development and receipts granted to residents
as a proportion
groups (per million of (US$ per person) (per million people)
of GDP (%)
population)
* World Bank database of the Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM) on 17 February 2009.
1
Within this table, the Arab countries are given in order of their Human Development Index as given in the UNDP’s Human Development Report for 2007-2008.
Source: Statistics of the Human Development Report 2007-2008
Remark: The table includes data from only seventeen Arab states.
* The index value falls on a scale of 0-10 and is calculated from three key indicators: number of telephone lines per thousand of the population, number of computers per thousand of the
population, and number of internet users per thousand of the population. The top 10 per cent of states score in the range 9-10, the next highest 10 per cent of states score in the range 8-9
and so on.
Source: World Bank database (Knowledge Assessment Methodology), http://info.worldbank.org/etools/kam2/KAM_page6.asp on 13 February 2009.
FIGURE b-1
Growth in average total number of telephone lines (fixed and mobile) per thousand people plotted
against per capita income for the world’s states, some Arab states, and selected groups of states
Arab states World states Groups of states
Number of telephone lines (fixed and mobile) per
2,000
1,800
World
1,600
R 2 = 0.9021
thousand inhabitants
1,400
1,200
R 2 = 0.9156
1,000
Arab states
800
600
400
200
0
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000
Growth in average number of fixed telephone lines per thousand people plotted against per
capita income for the world’s states, some Arab states, and selected groups of states
Arab states World states Groups of states
800
R2 = 0.849
700
Number of fixed telephone lines per
600
thousand inhabitants
World
500
400
R2 = 0.5023
300
200
Arab states
100
0
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000
FIGURE b-3
Growth in average number of mobile phone lines per thousand of population plotted against
per capita income for the world’s states, some Arab states, and selected groups of states
Arab states World states Groups of states
1400
1200
Number of mobile telephone lines
R 2 = 0.7849
per thousand inhabitants, 2005
1000
World R 2 = 0.7986
800
Arab states
600
400
200
0
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000
Per Capita GDP (in dollars of PPP)
It is no easy matter to classify the Arab states into groups according to the efforts they have expended and the
results they have achieved in their attempt to obtain and utilise ICT in building the knowledge economy. The data
necessary for undertaking a serious and objective evaluation are scarce and the methodologies of categorisation
that have been devised are numerous. Many of these methodologies are based on simplistic assumptions and lead
to conflicting results. The various elements that go to make up the design of a particular indicator are frequently
handled as if they all have equal or similar effects when it comes to obtaining technology or spreading its use, which
puts limits on the accuracy of the results of the evaluation. Many of the indicators are basically designed to measure
the trend to purchase the goods and services linked to technology more than to measure how far it is utilised for
the production and dissemination of knowledge. Most are largely quantitative and numerical rather than qualitative
and descriptive and do not deal with how intensively and efficiently modes of technology are used to close the
knowledge gap. To a great extent, they fail to measure knowledge content. Thus they do not permit an accurate
diagnosis 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 clear
that the infrastructure provided and the material resources available do not necessarily correlate with usage. More
meaningful methods of classification may be those that permit the evaluation of the Arab countries on the basis
of the data available on the steps they have taken to formulate strategies and draw up plans aimed at developing
their technological capabilities. According to such methodologies, states like the UAE, Bahrain, and Qatar lead
the Arab countries, since they have abundant and integrated policies, strategies, plans, and projects for ICT which
are implemented with some alacrity. This is undoubtedly helped by their low populations, the availability of the
required resources, and the intensive follow-up at the highest decision-making levels to remove obstacles as they
occur. 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 obstacles
of 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 down
ICT policies and strategies, but where the implementation plans and the programmes deriving from them remain
incomplete, belong to the third group. The fourth group includes states such as Iraq, the Occupied Palestinian
Territories, Yemen, and Djibouti that are suffering from difficult conditions represented by political crises, security
disturbances, or severe lack of resources, which limit the role of governments in the implementation of ICT
policies and strategies.
The Networked Readiness Index, which is monitored by the World Economic Forum, is connected to criteria
linked to ICT policies and strategies. It expresses the extent of government commitment to develop this technology
and to allocate the necessary support to it (see Table c-3). On the basis of this categorisation, the UAE comes
first out of the Arab states and in twenty-seventh place out of 134 states of the world. It is followed by Qatar
in twenty-ninth place, then by Bahrain, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia in thirty-seventh, thirty-eighth, and fortieth
place respectively. The bottom three places for the Arab states included in the report went to Libya, Algeria, and
Mauritania in 101st, 108th, and 109th place respectively.
According to indicators of the World Economic Forum’s report on ICT3 , the UAE comes top of the Arab states
covered by the report with respect to the first three indicators, although it fares less well on the encouragement of
Table c-1: Classification of the Arab countries according to some indicators of ICT infrastructure
Algeria 10 630 90
Djibouti 20 50 10
Mauritania 30 350 10
Morocco 20 520 40
Yemen 20 90 50
Source: World Bank database (Knowledge Assessment Methodology /KAM) on 10 June 2009
Table c-3: Ranking of some Arab countries according to Networked Readiness Index (2008/2009)
UAE 27 4.76
Qatar 29 4.68
Bahrain 37 4.38
Tunisia 38 4.34
Saudi Arabia 40 4.29
Jordan 44 4.19
Oman 50 4.08
Kuwait 57 3.98
Egypt 76 3.76
Morocco 86 3.59
Syria 94 3.41
Libya 101 3.28
Algeria 108 3.14
Mauritania 109 3.12
Source: Website of the World Economic Forum, http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gitr/2009/rankings.pdf on 12 March 2009.
Source: World Economic Forum, The Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009.
Table c-5: The Global Competitiveness Index and rank for some
Arab states with respect to selected pillars, 2008/2009
Global Pillar of Pillar of health
Pillar of Pillar of
competitiveness technological and primary
Arab countries innovation infrastructure
index readiness education
Rank1 Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score
Jointly sponsored by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation and the United
Nations Development Programme / Regional Bureau for Arab States, this Report is the first in
a series that address the state of knowledge in the Arab region with the view of knowledge as
a primary avenue for renaissance and human development.
The Report uses the concept of “knowledge” to embrace all forms of a society’s
epistemological and cultural asset. It is viewed as a major organising principal of holistic human
development, aiming to expand the choices and opportunities available to the individual Arab
to enjoy freedom and an honorable life. Knowledge, in terms of its acquisition, production,
indigenisation, and deployment, thus becomes a tool and goal that affects all levels of society
equally and involves all fields, from the scientific, artistic, cultural, and traditional to accumulated
societal experience.
From this perspective, the Report discusses the broad features and key components of the
knowledge society and the knowledge economy, and reviews the gap that divides the region from
the advanced world. The report highlights many deficits in the various areas of knowledge,
while stressing the pressing need for freedom as an essential prerequisite for establishing the
knowledge society.
Emphasising the triadic relationship among development, freedom, and knowledge, the
Report views the upgrading of Arab knowledge performance as a gateway to the reform of
the Arab development situation. Stressing the urgent need for action towards establishing
the knowledge society, and out of a belief in the right to knowledge and a conviction that its
dissemination is a societal responsibility, the Report also calls for better deployment of the Arab
knowledge repertoire and for a productive intercommunication with the full range of global
knowledge.
The Report concludes by putting forward a vision and a suggested action plan entailing a set
of elements, practical mechanisms, and constructive action required to bridge the knowledge
gap between the Arabs and the outside world on the one hand, and within the Arab countries on
the other, to keep pace with the ever-growing knowledge society and knowledge economy. The
Report does not claim that the proposed plans are either comprehensive or exhaustive, nor does
it claim to hold a monopoly over the truth or all the right answers in this field. The suggested
programme does, however, set down open horizons and motivating markers of the desired
knowledge routes that lead towards renaissance and comprehensive human development.