The innauguration of the Knowlegde Based Industries & Nanotechnology Conference was done by HH the deputy Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
Reshaping the Future By Aparajita Mukerjee
EACH era comes up with a unique solution to an eternal question - sustenance. What the Industrial Revolution did for the world in its entirety in the late 18th and early 19th centuries is slowly reaching stagnation since it was all to do with what have been termed as "finite resources". The present thrust of sustaining development and taking it to newer dimensions is scaling up investments in knowledge-based industries (KBIs) that primarily are based on knowledge, rather than labour or capital. The degree of success of KBIs depends to a very large extent on scientific advances, innovation and pioneering technology that span all facets of our lives - from vaccines to communication systems, from automobiles to aviation. The basis of success for industries of the future is exploding the knowledge base. It is in line with these worldwide developments that the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) has taken a pioneering role in creating awareness of KBIs within the GCC. For making its initiatives more concerted, GOIC has joined hands with SRI International to set forth a KBI Strategic Plan that comprise policies and programme to support the KBI development in the region. The Plan was formally launched by HH The Deputy Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the recently held conference on KBIs and Nanotechnology.
Dr Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa says with the shortage of human resources, the challenge will be to create adequate talent pool of educated, productive work force
Qatar Today spoke to Dr Ahmed Khalil Al Mutawa, Secretary General, GOIC on the strategies that the GCC is taking on the path to building KBIs, the challenges that lie ahead and the extent of cooperation that needs to be there between academia, industry and the financial institutions. "The GCC states, under the stewardship of the GOIC, have done a survey of the extent of readiness of the countries and identified certain gaps in the member countries towards the goal of becoming more knowledge-driven."
Evidently, no giant leap is possible alone. There is need for inter-country cooperation and collaboration which is being spearheaded by GOIC. "GOIC wants to chart out some common grounds by which the member countries can come on board on certain issues, as a group. We are developing strategic maps for each country based on its stage of development, with its distinct issues and concerns, advantages and growth patterns. The best way is to have an individual map for each country and an overall regional map, taking the concerns of the former into account. The regional map will take care of the issues of legislations across the board which will synchronise the pace of development of each individual member. This overall legislative climate will help the region as a whole to fiourish, especially if they want to cluster in certain areas."
The 5 Action points for facilitating KBIs in the region are:
HR (create a talent pool, accelerate education reforms, with special attention to Science, Management, Engineering, Technology);
KBI policy and regulatory framework (introduce 'market friendly' policies);
Capital and financial instruments (expansion in the venture capital network and entrepreneurial support systems, with a different risk tolerance profile);
Innovation systems (programmes to expand R&D and technology commercialisation); and
KBI infrastructure (enhance ICT access, link R&D facilities to create a critical mass).
This does not rule out the freedom that each member will have in charting out its own development plans that is in tandem with the regional plan. "All the states within the GCC are very excited with the prospect of KBIs since these industries are still in a dormant stage, expected to show up very strongly in the next seven to eight years. It is up to each member to decide what pace they want for themselves, whether they want to grow in league with the high-growth league countries or lowgrowth league countries of the world. One pertinent issue that needs to be addressed before concrete decisions can be taken is the issue of human resources. With the shortage of human resources, the challenge will be to create adequate talent pool of highly educated and, at the same time, highly productive work force, that will catalyse the next wave of development in KBIs."
Local relevance
The need for KBIs had been harped upon by the World Bank in its 2007 publication entitled Turning Qatar into a Competitive Knowledge-based Economy, wherein it had listed four variables - an appropriate economic incentive and institutional regime, a society of skilled, fiexible and creative people, dynamic information and telecommunication infrastructure and an efficient innovation system. Though meant for Qatar, these are points that could be used within the entire GCC.
In this four-fold matrix, what role do the GOIC envisage for itself? "GOIC is focusing more on tying up the roles of governments that are in tandem with the needs of industry. There has to be some overarching body that looks at the desirable changes of direction that industries must take, what laws and amendments will suit the emergence and development of such industries. GOIC, being an observer member of the Committee of Industrial Cooperation, members of which are the Ministers of Industry within the GCC states, is an advisory arm that generates a lot of recommendations. GOIC studies each individual member, its distinct needs and what decisions need to be taken at the ministerial level to further the common goal of KBIs within the GCC. We are more of a facilitator. "At a parallel level, we also identify investment opportunities for business houses. In a way, we are also facilitating industrial development from the business opportunity angle."
TAPPING THE INFINITE
Dr John A Mathieson stresses that the long-term need is to diversify the economy - not replace the growth of oil & gas, but create new engines of growth
"KNOWLEDGE is not a finite resource. It is like a balloon, which expands, depending on the extent of investment that is made on its expansion and proliferation. SRI has always been devoted and passionate about knowledge. And it is in this dimension that our interests matched with GOIC," said Dr John A Mathieson, Director, Centre for Science, Technology and Economic Development, SRI.
Formerly known as Stanford Research Institute, SRI International is a US-based research organization with a global presence, dedicated to analysing emerging technology and development trends and to generating innovation. The company seeks to promote the creation and dissemination of scientific information, cross-border R&D activities and the commercialisation of emerging technologies.
Outlining the current prospects of KBI in the region, he says, "The long term prospects are good. There is a great interest in developing KBIs in the region and there are resources to support these initiatives. However, it will take some time to create industries which are totally driven by knowledge - it is not something which can be done overnight. Even the industrial nations have taken many years to go upstream with these initiatives. If the region can take lessons from their journeys, it will accelerate the pace and shorten the time frame.
"KBIs do exist today, in some form in the region, in some sectors like oil & gas, petrochemicals, finance and medicines. There is already the use of knowledge in these sectors. We will now look at the expansion in the use of knowledge to a wider extent in these sectors as well as broadening the sector coverage. The broad milieu in the region is characterised by high oil/gas revenues, basic infrastructure in place, and high interest among investors. The idea is to exploit these advantages."
Challenges "The success of KBIs will depend on the way the leadership addresses the economic and social challenges facing the region. That is at the macro level.
"At the micro level, there needs to be attention to the need for productive employment that pays reasonable wages to absorb the labour that is unemployed or the underemployed. In addition, the long-term need is to diversify the economy - not replace the growth of oil & gas, but create new engines of growth. KBIs offer solutions in this regard."
At the individual level of the countries, GOIC is in the process of generating individual maps for each country, targeting the infrastructure capabilities and the goals that each country needs to set for itself at different time frames - short, medium and long term. For any KBI to thrive, there has to be an active joint participation from the academia, laboratories, and industry and finance channels.
"We are trying to recruit consultants and researchers from the academia at one level.
At another, we are identifying investment opportunities in the member countries and marrying the two."
What is the role of the GOIC in fostering such cooperation? "We are trying to recruit consultants and researchers from the academia at one level. At another, we are identifying investment opportunities in the member countries and marrying the two. This marriage helps the translation of research in a local university to find relevance and application in an industry that can use this research
This article is reproduced with special permission from Qatar Today - Qatar's only news, business and lifestyle magazine
