Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – With the advent of a knowledge economy developing in Saudi Arabia, Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, and Information Data Corporation (IDC) connected with CIOs and education leaders to demonstrate how the right smart E-education technology can help institutions improve the standards of education.
Being held at the Four Seasons in Riyadh, the IDC Smart Education Summit will address how the emergence of BYOD, connected learning, cloud services, software defined networking and big data analytics has the ability to revolutionize education and make learning more interactive for Saudi students.
As the country moves closer to developing a true knowledge-based economy, the Smart Education Summit follows a recent IDC report, which announced that ICT spending in the KSA Education sector is set to increase between 2013 and 2018 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.2 percent. Link
‘Smartest cities’ in America – Seattle is ranked No. 9 in Forbes’ 2014 list of “America’s smartest cities,” a list dominated by cities with major universities former industrial cities that have transitioned to knowledge economies. … Raleigh, N.C., at the heart of a “knowledge triangle” of universities and high tech companies, is No. 7 on the list. Link
South Africa – I was cornered in the lift this week by a student who piped up in a typical Wits-cheeky manner: “So, Prof Habib, I heard you on radio yesterday announcing that Wits has received R100-million from an anonymous donor. Does this mean that my student fees are covered for the next few years?” “No,” I replied, “We need more funds. All universities in South Africa need more funding if we are to develop as a sector and contribute towards the development of high-level skills in our country.” I did remind him that he was indeed one of the privileged few to make it to university, and that he had a responsibility to give back to his university and to society for receiving a world-class education. Universities have the responsibility to align their priorities with those of the country and the continent, to foster socioeconomic development, and to produce the high-level skills required to compete in the global knowledge economy, or risk being left behind. Link
South Africa – We asked Morwane about how current ICT innovation in the country would boost education, economic development, job creation and other core issues: “The National Development Plan sees ICT by 2030 underpinning a dynamic, inclusive and prosperous information society and knowledge economy, in which a seamless information infrastructure will meet the needs of citizens, business and the public sector, providing access to a wide range of services required for effective economic and social participation at a cost and quality at least equal to South Africa’s competitors… The ICT Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Roadmap derived a vision for a South Africa that has overcome a digital divide and created a digital advantage.” Link
Canada – “By connecting students with local businesses, this centre will provide students with the hands-on applied learning they need in the 21st century knowledge economy, while boosting productivity for manufacturers,” said [Reza Moridi, Ontario’s Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities]. Link
Malaysia – [Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak] also called for green industries to deliver jobs and help Malaysia create a deeper knowledge economy to help young entrepreneurs acquire skills and support their needs. Link
Turkey – [Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu takes over the rotating presidency of the G20] What we could expect in the coming months is a tense process of public-private dialogue and collaboration in different sectors to increase the local value added to manufacturing production, decrease import dependency of productive sectors, improve energy efficiency and build the foundations of a knowledge economy. Link