The Arabian Knowledge Economy Association (AKEA) is a new trade and industry association whose goal is to foster knowledge leadership, entrepreneurship, innovation, research and technology development. The founders of AKEA (www.akea-me.com) are an eclectic group of business people, intellectuals and industrialists from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Lebanon, Jordan, Germany, India and the USA.
“The knowledge economy is defined as an economy where its people and organizations create, acquire, disseminate, use and commercialize knowledge — existing and new — more efficiently and effectively for enhancing an economy’s growth and competitiveness,” Saudi member Abdullah Al-Subyani, explained.
“The knowledge-based economy focuses on building the intellectual capital of people, companies and the society at large for the creation of wealth, not only in monetary terms, but also in terms of heightening our sense of meaning. If we can realize how the new value proposition, the so called knowledge economy, is a substantial step beyond the industrial economy, we will then fully appreciate all that it brings with it in more and higher-paying jobs, as well as a new spirit of economic activities,” added Ahmad Bayaa, a businessman.
Dr. Charles Savage, president of Knowledge Era Enterprises International, Munich, Germany, put the challenge in simple terms. “In order to make the knowledge economy work, we need to find the strengths in each other as opposed to the weaknesses, as these strengths become the raw materials upon which we build the knowledge economy. We need to do simple things, like listen deeply to one another, to show excitement for one another’s aspirations, and see that knowledge comes alive when we acknowledge one another as growing, learning and aspiring individuals.”
According to Prof. V.B. Nandal Gopal, director of the Saudi Entrepreneurship Development Institute in Jeddah, it is essential to teach and inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs so they play an important role in co-creating the knowledge economy in the region. He hoped that AKEA would add value on this front.
To become a member of AKEA - free until December 2005 - visit www.akea-me.com/join.asp.