JEDDAH, 14 January 2008 — Experts who participated in the two-day forum on knowledge economy here that ended yesterday recognized the existence of positive trends in Saudi Arabia, saying that “all you need is to promote knowledge economy in a sustained manner.”
“Merely having knowledge is not enough. You need to convert knowledge into economic value,” Abdulaziz Al-Jazzar, chairman of Al-Malaz Group, who chaired the session said.
Dr. Charles Savage, president, Knowledge Enterprise, Germany, contended that the “heart of knowledge economy is the individual.” He traced how economy evolved over the ages, beginning with the era of hunters and gatherers and followed by agricultural and industrial eras. “It’s all a matter of shifting paradigms,” he said, adding that shifts in paradigm have “helped us to understand the universe, our reality.”
Referring to the energy needed for promoting knowledge economy, he said: “Tomorrow’s fuel is the energy within us. We should tap this every day. In fact, things like physical networking and mobility should be done on a regular basis, “but what we could do as individuals, we are not doing.”
Dr. Maher Chebbo, director of innovation and R&D, SAP, Germany, said a review of 1,000 projects by the UK Office of Government Commerce has concluded that technology was one of the least likely reasons for a project to fall. “The most common reasons for projects to fall are lack of knowledge, and (industrial) practices and know-how,” he said. “A product may fail because it may not fit the market.”
According to him, innovation is the keyword and should be pursued all the time.” Keep the innovative channels open and smart management will evolve,” he said, adding that Europe is finding an answer to the limitations of traditional distribution of electricity by tapping other sources like energy from solar, waves and wind. “Corporate innovation is the engine for economic growth in knowledge economy,” he added.
Patrick Sullivan of the US-based ICM Group, outlined how companies extract value from their intellectual property. Ron Manuel of the US-based Integration Capital Inc., dealt with “Venture capital: a missing link for knowledge economy.”
He said “venture capital is a passion and that could bring about changes in the entire GCC.” According to him, knowledge and venture capital together could lead to the path of innovation. “Traditional capital is not innovation capital,” he said.
Various workshops came up with recommendations. One of them is that education should be promoted with its relevance to day-to-day life and business, and with more focus on teaching. A plan on establishing future centers for children and youth talent centers in cooperation with King Abdul Aziz Foundation was also made. Regular knowledge bazaars in schools and universities, and establishment of innovation and idea banks with the help of sponsors were also suggested.
AKEA President Abdullah Al-Subyani told a press conference that the association had signed some memoranda of understanding. AKEA yesterday signed an MOU with Dhahran-based Arab Human Resources and another with the New Club of Paris.
On Saturday, AKEA signed an MOU with Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), one of the institutions of the Islamic Development Bank. Chief Executive Officer Khaled Al-Aboodi who signed the deal, heads ICD that funds its member countries’ private sector.
Al-Subyani termed the first conference as a “big success” and said the whole effort at the conference was to create awareness of knowledge economy in the society and discuss strategies that would bring all official agencies and private sector together to exchange knowledge.
“We are right now in the process of coming up with strategies to achieve those targets and goals. We are going to have similar conferences in other Arab states,” Al-Subyani said. “Having knowledge is not enough. Implementing it is what is required,” he added.
“We fund projects that the society benefits from. We are very selective about the projects. So far, we have funded SR85 million to projects in major countries. The largest beneficiaries are those in the Kingdom,” Aboodi said.
Jean-Eric Aubert of the World Bank Institute, said knowledge economy “is placing knowledge- and innovation-related policies at the heart of development strategies for countries at all levels of development. It is not about ICT-based economy, the new economy, etc.,” he added. “Achieving knowledge economy is a matter of will and determination, and vision is important,” he said, adding that knowledge economy agendas cannot be disconnected from other reform agendas.
Aubert urged immediate action on the four knowledge economy pillars — innovation, education, ICT and economic infrastructure.
He also called for building vision and trust through a knowledge-based society. “Success stories are essential to building knowledge economies and governments should act with pragmatism,” he said.
Leif Edvinsson, president of the New Club of Paris, said measuring capital is important “because it is a right step into the future.” He said the future center concept means experimental knowledge exploration, focus future earnings potential, refine intelligence for sustainability, offer space for IC prototyping and cultivate relational capital.