GS 108: INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION LITERACY

LECTURE 2:
ROLE OF INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE IN
DEVELOPMENT

LECTURER: Dr. Everlyn M. Anduvare

Bishop McCauley Memorial Library
Research & Customer Services Librarian
Email: eanduvare@cuea.edu

Putting Research Information at the Centre of Scholarship 1

 Expected Learning outcomes

By the end of this lesson, The students should be able

to:
i. Distinguish between data, information and knowledge,
ii. Explain the meaning of the concepts of development and
sustainable development,
iii.Evaluate the role of information & knowledge in
sustainable development .

Putting Research Information at the Centre of Scholarship 2

 Distinction & relationship between data, information
and knowledge
 What is data?
It’s a collection of raw facts and figures.
It represents unorganised and unprocessed facts.
It can represent a set of disconnected facts about events.
It simply exists and has no significance beyond its existence
(in and of itself), therefore, it does not have meaning of itself.
Usually data is static in nature.
It can exist in any form (facts, statistics, numbers, characters,
symbols, images…) which may be usable or not.

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 …data
Data must be interpreted, by a human or machine, to
derive meaning.
Data is a prerequisite to information.
Every organization has its own specific data which
is used to perform certain operations, thus, an
organization sometimes has to decide on the nature
and volume of data that is required for creating the
necessary information.
In computer parlance, a spreadsheet generally starts
out by holding data.
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 …data (example 1)

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 …data (example 2)

What do the following mean?

7

John

A
The above have no meaning unless put in a context.

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 What is information?
Data that is:
Accurate and timely,
Specific and organised for a purpose,
Presented within a context.

Thus, information is data that has been processed to

make it meaningful and useful.
Data + meaning = Information

Information makes decision making easier.

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 …what is information?

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 What is knowledge?
Human understanding of a subject matter that has been
acquired through proper study and experience.
 Knowledge is usually based on learning, thinking, and
proper understanding of the issue or problem area.

An understanding of information based on its perceived

importance or relevance to a problem area.

knowledge is the appropriate collection of information,

such that it's intent is to be useful.

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Putting Research Information at the Centre of Scholarship
 …knowledge
… When someone "memorizes" information (as
less-aspiring test-bound students often do), then they
have accumulated knowledge. This knowledge has
useful meaning to them, but it does not provide for,
in and of itself, an integration such as would infer
further knowledge.
For example, elementary school children memorize,
or amass knowledge of, the "times table".

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 …knowledge
They can tell you that "2 x 2 = 4" because they have
amassed that knowledge (it being included in the
times table). But when asked what is "1267 x 300",
they can not respond correctly because that entry is
not in their times table.
To correctly answer such a question requires a true
cognitive and analytical ability that is only
encompassed in the next level… understanding.

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 Example by Prof. Nigel Shadbolt:

When you have a number, like 37,

What does it mean to you?

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 …example
Could be:
somebody’s age or
a particular kind of temperature or
some kind of stock price.
Until you put it in context:
37 years old
37 degrees
37 market capital (of a company)

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 Once you put it in context,
Then, that data becomes information.
And, if you can do something with that
information (you can use it to give some kind of
antibiotic because you got a fever (Normal: 36.5–37.5 °C
(97.7–99.5 °F); Fever: >37.5 or 38.3 °C (99.5 or 100.9 °F);

Hypothermia: <35.0 °C (95.0 °F); or sell a share because it is

worth selling), that’s knowledge.

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 Conclusion
Knowledge is not information and information is
not data.

Knowledge is derived from information in the same

way information is derived from data.

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 DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT & SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT

What is Development?
 Various definitions:

i. Used widely to refer to economic, social and political advancement

which results in sustained rise in the standard of living for an
increasing proportion of a population (Hodder, 2000).
Economic: pertains to the production, distribution, and use of
income, wealth, and commodities.
Social: relates to society or its organization.
Political: relates to the government or public affairs of a country.

 Development implies a positive change in all the dimensions of life

for all members of a society regardless of class, age, gender,
ethnicity and geographical considerations.

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 …development
ii. Has been conceptualized in terms of human development which is
viewed as the process of widening choices for people to do and be what
they value in life by expanding their social, political and economic
opportunities (UNDP, 2004).

 Human development is measured using the Human Development Index

(HDI) which uses three indicators namely:
a) Longevity in terms of life expectancy at birth;
b) Knowledge which is measured in terms of adult literacy and
mean years of schooling and,
c) Standard of living which is measured in terms of per capita
income (Watkins, 2005).
(average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country,
etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's
total income by its total population).

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 What Is Sustainable Development?

The Brundtland Commission defined sustainable

development as the:
“ability to make development sustainable—to ensure
that it meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs”

This is viewed as a standard definition when judged

by its widespread use and frequency of citation.

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 …sustainable development
 The use of this definition has led many to see sustainable
development as having a major focus on intergenerational
equity

 Implication: Human needs are basic and essential; in that

economic growth, and also equity to share resources with the
poor—is required to sustain them; and that equity is encouraged
by effective citizen participation.

 Initially: There was emphasis on the environment, “The concept

of sustainable development does imply limits—not absolute
limits but limitations imposed by the present state of technology
and social organization on environmental resources and by the
ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities”

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 2. Environmental pillar
 Argument:
 An environmentally sustainable system must maintain a stable resource
base, avoiding over-exploitation of renewable resource systems or
environmental sink functions, and depleting non-renewable resources
only to the extent that investment is made in adequate substitutes.
 This includes maintenance of biodiversity, atmospheric stability, and
other ecosystem functions not ordinarily classed as economic
resources.

 Therefore, one can safely argue that environmental concerns are the
cornerstone of sustainable development.

 Until recently, sustainable development was viewed solely through the

lens of the environmental conservation but as the concept has matured,
increasing emphasis has been placed on its relationship to economic,
social and cultural dimensions of development.
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 PILLARS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
 1. Economic pillar

 Arguments:
 An economically sustainable system must be able to:
 Produce goods and services on a continuing basis,
 Maintain manageable levels of government and external debt,
 Avoid extreme sectoral imbalances which damage agricultural or
industrial production.

 The economic dimension of sustainable development (economic

sustainability) reflects, according to Munro (1995), the need to strike the
balance between the costs and benefits of economic activity, within the
confines of the carrying capacity of the environment.

 Economic progress should not be made at the expense of inter-generational

equity. Therefore, resources should not be exploited to the extent that their
ability to re-generate is compromised.
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  iii. Social pillar

 Argument” : A socially sustainable system must achieve

 Distributional equity,
 Adequate provision of social services including health and education,
gender equity, and political accountability and participation.

 This is referred to as Social Sustainability

 Social sustainability relates to
i. The maintenance of political and social values and norms.
 Social values and norms, relate to the “ethics, value systems,
language, education, work attitudes, class systems” and so
on, that influence societal relations.

ii. The satisfaction of basic human needs within the society such as food,
clothing, and shelter by ensuring quality of economic growth.
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 iv. Cultural Pillar
Argument

 Culture shapes how the environment is viewed and lived in and shapes
what we mean by development and determines how people act in the world
in the pursuit of development

 Definitions of culture:
i. The social production and transmission of identities, meanings, knowledge,
beliefs, values, aspirations, purposes, attitudes and understanding;

ii. The ‘way of life’ of a particular set of humans: customs, dress, cuisine,
language, arts, science, technology, religion and rituals; norms and
regulations of behaviour, traditions and institutions.

 Therefore:
 Culture enfolds every aspect of human intercourse: the family, the
education, legal, political and transport systems, the mass media,
work practices, leisure pursuits, religion, the built environment ...
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 …cultural pillar

 Culture has three aspects.

i. Our values and aspirations;
ii. Processes and mediums through which we develop, receive and
transmit these values and aspirations;
iii. Tangible and intangible manifestations of these values and
aspirations in the real world.

 Therefore, in relation to sustainable development it is through cultural

action that we:

 Make sense of our existence and the environment we inhabit;

 Find common expressions of our values and needs;
 We engage in the appropriate activities that meet the challenges presented
by our continued stewardship of the planet.

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 Ways in which knowledge can contribute to sustainable development

i. Promotes environmental conservation among the citizens

Sustainable development is about the efficient management and

organization of local resources in both human and physical forms.

In this regard, the knowledge of the environment as well as public

involvement in protecting the environment from pollution and waste

Learning about the efficient use of productive resources empowers

societies to sustain development through the creation of better ideas,
appropriate techniques and new knowledge.

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  ii. Promotes public participation in development initiatives e.g.
government initiatives, community activities, decision making

 Environmental management and sustainable growth lie with

the participation of the public and their knowledge
capabilities to preserve the ecosystem and balance
development.
 Through knowledge dissemination, people will be able to
participate in decision making as well as gain knowledge of
the environment.

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  iii. Enhances productive use of resources

 All aspects of sustainable development requires a flexible,

adaptable and creative innovative system capable of using
resources in a productive way to foster growth and sustain
development e.g. land, minerals, forests, capital, human
resources

 Knowledge is about ideas and skills that need to be acquired

and applied in order to enhance people’s capabilities, not
only to become creative and innovative, but also to
participate in decision making concerning development of
their communities.

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 iv. Fosters innovation and creativity among the citizens
 Knowledge provision to the public including the promotion
of lifelong learning, especially among the young will foster
creativity and innovation through providing skills and
promoting the best use of technologies at home and in
business.

*Knowledge provision among the people, will lead to

sustainable development.

v. Facilitates policy setting and implementation

 The availability, sharing and transfer of knowledge is viewed
as prerequisite to viable policy setting and implementation,
and therefore, a tool for fighting problems such as poverty,
inequality and environmental degradation.

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 vi. Enhances technology diffusion

 Building learning capacity and empowering people through

knowledge are important for enabling the society to absorb
technology.

 Investment in people knowledge empowers them with the

ability of society to sustain development through the use of
appropriate technologies.

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  Recent literature on economic development highlights the
importance of knowledge and information in fostering economic
growth and speeding up the process of socio-economic
transformation.
 In development studies, knowledge has been considered an
important input for development as well as a major factor in
wealth creation and global competitiveness.

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 Implications of the role of knowledge for society
i. Requires that local communities, including their various segments,
participate meaningfully in the generation of knowledge about their
development to ensure the relevance and acceptance by the people of the
policies and programs that these knowledge engender.

ii. Institutions of higher learning and research can generate knowledge by

becoming true centres of critical inquiry into knowledge and ways of
knowing.

iii. There is a need to promote indigenous knowledge: there is need to

facilitate this by creating spaces for the expropriation of what is suitable
in modern science and technology and their re-articulation with elements
of Africa’s traditions, values, practices and relationship with nature in
order to pursue development policies that are African-centred and
sustainable.

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 Implications of the role of knowledge for society
 iv. Radical reforms, driven by policy initiatives and institutional
incentives need to be introduced in order to create an enabling
environment capable of promoting knowledge culture and increasing
economic productivity.

 v. In most developing countries, the knowledge content in development

remains inadequate to support rapid conversion and strengthen policy.

 Managing knowledge for sustaining development should become policy

priority to strengthen the building of knowledge capacity for
development.

Think:

*Discuss how we can promote knowledge among young people as a tool of

empowerment

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