Management Information Systems

Assignment
2
Research Essay on

KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY
REQUIRED

 Review relevant past theoretical and empirical literature (e.g. definitions, approaches, activities and
practices) on Knowledge Society and summarise your findings under appropriate sub-headings.
 Comment on the potential of various social and technical factors to facilitate or hinder the
development of knowledge society.
 Give your own views about the strategic advantages of knowledge society and suggest ways in which
Bosnia and Herzegovina should approach this issue.

AUTHOR

Recep ZIHNI

Sarajevo
Monday, 06 December 2010
 THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL LITERATURE ON
KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

To look is one thing,

to see what you look at is another,
to understand what you see is a third,
to learn from what you understand is still something else,
to act on what you learn is all that matters.

Intelligence Hierarchy

 Data
- words, numbers, code, tables, databases
- categorize, calculate, collate, quantify, collect

 Information
- sentences, paragraphs, equations, concepts, ideas, questions, simple stories
- contextualize, compare, converse, connect, filter, prioritize, order, frame

 Knowledge
- chapters, theories, axioms, conceptual frameworks, complex stories facts
- structure, interpret, evaluate, deconstruct

 Wisdom
- books, paradigms, systems, philosophies, school of thought, poetry, belief systems, traditions, principals, truths
- weave, embody, discriminate, synthesize
Recent History of Knowledge Society
The idea of the knowledge society has, over the last 30 or so years, become a focus for a rich and
diverse scholarly debate at both philosophical and empirical levels.
The knowledge society has also been presented in terms of the “network society”, where, it is
argued, the dominant role of IT is changing our understanding of what knowledge is, and is
determining how it can be used.
The second half of the twentieth century saw the emergence of new types of social and economic
arrangements. These arrangements were based not on the production of physical goods, but on
the production, organization and exchange of knowledge. But this change has been seen as more
than simply a move from manufacturing industries to ideas-based industries. A cognitive shift is
said to have occurred, as new knowledge became incorporated into cultural and institutional
forms, not merely economic ones, changing them in the process.
Knowledge societies are not to be confused with information societies. Knowledge societies
contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities, and encompass social, ethical and
political dimensions.

Example: Singapore, for example, started out as a developing country of shantytowns at

independence and achieved economic growth rates that surpass those of most industrialized
nations in just four decades by promoting knowledge (education) and creativity.

Characteristics of Knowledge Societies

Knowledge Societies and their economies have a range of characteristics. These include:

• Advanced high-speed broadband – domestic and enterprise;

• High level of electronic transactions in public, private and government services;
• High speed broadband and systematic usage in schools;
• High participation of students in advanced mathematics and science;
• World ranking Universities with high level of international connectivity;
• Technology industry producing innovative products and services for export;
• Well defined national ICT (Information Communications Technology) research programs
which focus on documented strategic national needs;
• High ranking in IT international surveys and global competitiveness;
• High number of full-time researchers in industry and at third-level;
• Strength in ICT, Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals with high added value indigenous
manufacturing sectors;
• Evidence of Government endorsement of the knowledge agenda;
• Sophisticated intellectual property systems with high level of patents, trademarks and licensing
revenue;
• High level of international business connectivity with strong export revenues from products and
internationally traded services;
• Significant Government effort is underway to ensure social inclusion and active citizen
participation in topical and political issues.
A Shared Heritage of Mankind

 The Greek Commonwealth

 Chinese, Indian, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Afghan period
 Western science & technology (after 1100)
 Central Africa, Maya, Aztecs etc

Abdus Salam (theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics 1979) wrote on “science, technology
and science education in the development of the south”. He said that science and technology are
cyclical. They are a shared heritage of all mankind. East and West, South and North have all
equally participated in their creation in the past as, we hope, they will in the future – the joint
endeavour in sciences becoming one of the unifying forces among the diverse peoples on this
globe.

UNESCO attaches very high importance to the World Summit on the Information Society and
promoted the concept of knowledge society rather than that of global information society in
Geneva, 2003.

SOCIAL AND TECHNICAL FACTORS TO FACILITATE AND HINDER

THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY

Pros and Cons

 The cost of ignorance is greater than the cost of education and knowledge sharing.
Nobody should be excluded from knowledge societies, where knowledge is a public
good, available to each and every individual.
 Cultural and linguistic diversity are also central to the development of knowledge
societies pointing out that local and traditional knowledge can be invaluable (for example
agriculture and health).
 Information societies, on the other hand, are based on technological breakthroughs that
risk providing little more than “a mass of indistinct data” for those who don’t have the
skills to benefit from it.
 Only 11 percent of the world’s population has access to the internet and 90 percent of
those connected live in industrialized countries.
 Digital divide is itself the consequence of a more serious split.
 The knowledge divide today more than ever, separates countries endowed with powerful
research and development potential, highly effective education systems and a range of
public learning and cultural facilities, from nations with deficient education systems and
research institutions starved of resources, and suffering as a result of the brain drain. The
Knowledge Society Strategy will cover both social and economic implications and
opportunities of moving to a knowledge-based society and economy.
Four Essential Principles for the Development of Equitable Knowledge Societies

 Cultural diversity
 Equal access to education
 Universal access to information (in the public domain)
 Freedom of expression

Indeed, knowledge societies should be strongly based on a commitment to human rights and
fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression. Knowledge societies should also ensure
the full realization of the right to education and of all cultural rights. In knowledge societies,
access to the public domain of information and knowledge for educational and cultural purposes
should be as broad as possible. Information should be of high quality, diversified and reliable.
An important principle of knowledge societies should be the diversity of cultures and languages.

Three Strategic Objectives of Knowledge Societies

 Fostering Digital Opportunities and Social Inclusion

- Knowledge Societies are only equitable if all people, including disadvantaged and
marginalized groups such as people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, people living in
extreme poverty as well as women and youth benefit equally for network strengthening,
information sharing, creating knowledge resources and developing skills necessary for
life/work in the new digital environment.
- The enhancement of dialogue between citizens and public authorities should be one of
the major objectives of knowledge societies.
- They should be based on the sharing of information and the genuine participation of
social groups at various levels.
 Strengthening Capacities for Scientific Research, Information Sharing and Cultural
Creations, Performances and Exchanges
- Participation in all forms of intellectual life for educational, scientific, cultural and
communication purposes should be ensured.
- The production and dissemination of educational, scientific and cultural materials and the
preservation of the digital heritage should be regarded as crucial elements of knowledge
societies.
- Networks of specialists and of virtual interest groups should be developed.
  Enhancing Learning Opportunities Through Access to Diversified Content and
Delivery Systems
- Knowledge Societies should contribute to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning,
the sharing of knowledge and information.
- Knowledge Societies have potential to introduce in the educational process a higher
degree of flexibility in response to societal needs.
- The potential of Knowledge Societies is to lower the cost of education and to improve
internal and external efficiencies of the education system should be grasped.
- Knowledge societies should offer opportunities to use innovative and experimental tools
in the process of renewing education.
- Knowledge societies are to be seen both as educational discipline and as pedagogical
tools capable of enhancing the effectiveness of educational services.
- A broad-based dialogue among all stakeholders and consensus should be built at national
and international levels.

VIEWS ABOUT THE STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES OF KNOWLEDGE

SOCIETY AND WAYS IN WHICH BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
SHOULD APPROACH THIS ISSUE

Objectives and Proposals

 Free access to knowledge

 Knowledge as a public good owned by all the Commons
 Openness of technical standards and open organization forms
 Securing privacy in the use of knowledge and information
 Cultural and linguistic diversity
 Securing media diversity and public opinion
 The long-term conservation of knowledge
 Bridging the digital divide
 Freedom of information as a civil right to political activity and transparent administration
 Securing freedom of information in work environment
Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Knowledge Society

 The most important resources of Bosnia and Herzegovina are the talents, skills,
creativity, dynamics and will of its people on the way to a Knowledge Society.
 Development in terms of national unity and social union, in terms of our economy, in
terms of social justice, political stability, system of government, quality of life, social and
spiritual values, national pride and confidence.
 Establishing a united BIH with a sense of common and shared destiny. This must be a
nation at peace with itself, territorially and ethnically integrated, living in harmony and
full and fair partnership with political loyalty and dedication to the nation.
 Creating a psychologically liberated, secure, and developed society with faith and
confidence in itself, justifiably proud of what it is, of what it has accomplished, strong
enough to face all manner of adversity.
 This society must be distinguished by the pursuit of excellence, fully aware of all its
potentials, psychologically subservient to none, and respected by the peoples of other
nations.
 Investment in education at all levels.
 Fostering and developing a mature democratic society, practicing a form of mature
consensual, community-oriented democracy that can be a model for many developing
countries.
 Establishing a fully moral and ethical society, whose citizens are strong in spiritual values
and inspired with the highest of ethical standards.
 Establishing a matured, liberal and tolerant society in which BIH of all colors and beliefs
are free to practice and profess their customs, cultures and religious beliefs and yet
feeling that they belong to one nation.
 Establishing a scientific and progressive society, a society that is innovative and forward-
looking, and one that is not only a consumer of technology but also a contributor to the
scientific and technological civilization of the future.
 Establishing a fully caring society and a caring culture, a social system in which society
will come before self, in which the welfare of the people will revolve not around the state
or the individual but around a strong and elastic family system.
 Ensuring an economically just society.
 Enabling a society in which there is a fair and equitable distribution of the wealth of the
nation, in which there is full partnership in economic progress.
 Establishing a successful society, with an economy that is fully competitive, dynamic,
strong and elastic.
References

 Conference and Annual Reports, 2007, Teaching in the Knowledge Society, 048 from
the Republic of Ireland
 European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2003,
 Handbook of Knowledge Society Foresight, Dublin 18, Ireland, URL:
www.eurofound.eu.int
 Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P. and Trow, M., 1994,
The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Science and Research in
Contemporary Societies, SAGE Publications, London
 Giddens, A., 1991, The Consequences of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity Press
 Heinrich Boell Foundation, WSIS/PC-2/CONTR/65-E, 2003, Towards a “Charter of
Human Rights for Sustainable Knowledge Societies”, Geneva
 Held, D., McGrew, A., Goldblatt, D. and Perraton, J.,1999, Global Transformations:
Politics, Economics and Culture, Cambridge: Polity Press
 Knowledge Society Documents, URL:
http://recepzihni.org/......recepzihni@hotmail.com....../Knowledge.Society/
 Paul Temple, 2004, What is the Knowledge Society?, Institute of Education, University
of London
 Ritholtz, Barry, 2010, Intelligence Hierarchy, URL:
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2010/data-information-knowledge-wisdom/
 Tapio Varis, 2008, Communication and New Literacies, Unesco Chair in Global e-
Learning, University of Tampere, Finland
 Unesco Report, 2005, Knowledge Versus information Societies, Paris