This book presents the future development of Malaysia. It puts together building blocks to achieve a better future. These blocks are poverty and income inequality, population, demography and urbanization, growth and technological progress, education, human capital and skills, finance, labor, the environment, and health care. It examines the reasons for the decline in the agricultural sector with an emphasis on food security. It discusses Malaysia’s economic growth and structural change compared to some of the Northeast East Asian and Southeast Asian countries. It explains the projections of population and demographic change and its bearing on government policies. It evaluates the country’s education sector and discusses the strategies to improve its role in the country further. It argues for replacing ethnic-based approaches with a needs-based system for the future direction to build a plural Malaysia. This insightful book is of interest across several fields, including demography, economic development, and urbanization.

A Leap into the Future is a collection of speeches, essays and articles compiled during Prof. Anyang' Nyong'o's tenure in the Kenya government and soon afterwards (2002-2006). In this provocative collection, Prof. Nyong'o examines the challenges of development, analyses how pan-African and global partnerships could facilitate development, and invokes the visionary direction pointed out by prominent personalities in Kenya's political leadership to whom he pays tribute. Through the collection, the author projects his vision for socio-political and economic transformation of the Kenyan society in a bid to formulate an economic strategy capable of leap-frogging the country from the current quagmire of underdevelopment to development. Professor Anyang' Nyong'o is a renowned reformist and political scientist in Africa and is best known for his role in Kenya's "second liberation." He holds a doctorate degree in Political Science from the University of Chicago and has taught in universities in Kenya, Mexico and Ethiopia. Upon the re-introduction of multiparty politics in Kenya in 1991, he was involved in the founding of Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD), which provided the premier opposition machinery in the run-up to the 1992 general elections. He was also involved in the formation of the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), which defeated KANU, the party that had ruled Kenya for 24 years. In the subsequent NARC government, he became the Minister of Planning and National Development. Besides teaching, he is widely published in Africa and abroad. Prof. Nyong'o has also been at the frontline in championing the reform agenda in Africa, especially through the establishment of NEPAD. At the time of publication of this book, he was Secretary General of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

Significant historical and geographical differences account for the many processes and trajectories of regional development in East Asia. These historical and geographical specificities in East Asia have prompted serious re-examination of existing theories in regional development, and in particular the "new regionalism" approach associated with such ideas as the learning region, institutional thickness, relational assets, and regional innovation system. This book brings together a group of leading researchers specializing in local and regional development in East Asian economies. Through in-depth empirical studies of specific regions and localities, these authors offer fresh and innovative perspectives on how regions evolve and develop over time in the world’s most dynamic macro-regional economy. In particular, their work points to the critical importance of local and trans-local processes in shaping regional development trajectories. The book is timely given that the debate on the nature and dynamics of regional development in both academic and policy circles has now moved on. From the earlier focus on endogenous regional assets (such as localized networks of association and trust), scholars and policymakers are now analyzing the complex relationship between economic globalization and regional change. This high calibre collection makes a significant contribution to the literature on local and regional development in Asia and provides an important resource for researchers, students, and policy makers interested in East Asia. This book was published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

E-Strategies for Technological Diffusion and Adoption: National ICT Approaches for Socioeconomic Development provides comprehensive coverage and definitions of the most important issues, concepts, trends, and technologies related to the adoption, diffusion, and adaptation of national electronic strategies for ICTs in socioeconomic development.

Techno-entrepreneurship is defined as the entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial activities of both existing companies and new businesses operating in technology-intensive environments. This is an ideal text for advancing an understanding of the theory and practice of research in this area.

The present book highlights studies that show how smart cities promote urban economic development. The book surveys the state of the art of Smart City Economic Development through a literature survey. The book uses 13 in depth city research case studies in 10 countries such as the North America, Europe, Africa and Asia to explain how a smart economy changes the urban spatial system and vice versa. This book focuses on exploratory city studies in different countries, which investigate how urban spatial systems adapt to the specific needs of smart urban economy. The theory of smart city economic development is not yet entirely understood and applied in metropolitan regional plans. Smart urban economies are largely the result of the influence of ICT applications on all aspects of urban economy, which in turn changes the land-use system. It points out that the dynamics of smart city GDP creation takes ‘different paths,’ which need further empirical study, hypothesis testing and mathematical modelling. Although there are hypotheses on how smart cities generate wealth and social benefits for nations, there are no significant empirical studies available on how they generate urban economic development through urban spatial adaptation. This book with 13 cities research studies is one attempt to fill in the gap in knowledge base.

"This book provides critical research and knowledge on electronic cultivation and political development experiences from around the world"--Provided by publisher.

"The focus of this book is on the ever increasing capacity of Pervasive context-aware applications that are aiming to develop into context-responsive applications in different application areas"--Provided by publisher.

Technology in several forms, especially Information Technology (IT), has a strong tendency to converge at varying degrees. This phenomenon of converging innovation is likely to deepen and widen in the future due to intense competition in global markets. Asian manufacturing firms in particular lead the global industrial innovation. Convergent innovation exists as a constant disequilibrium between reference technology and matching technology; innovations of these technologies occur at different degrees to attain an optimal balance. Innovations as a result of convergence are often beneficial, improving welfare and employment. This book sheds light on the little-discussed idea of convergent innovation with examples hailing from Asia. The book also proposes new theories and investigates convergence at the micro level – guaranteed food for thought for academics interested in innovation economics and management.

The Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, are the world's targets for dramatically reducing extreme poverty in its many dimensions by 2015 income poverty, hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter while promoting gender equality, education, health and environmental sustainability. These bold goals can be met in all parts of the world if nations follow through on their commitments to work together to meet them. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals offers the prospect of a more secure, just, and prosperous world for all. The UN Millennium Project was commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to develop a practical plan of action to meet the Millennium Development Goals. As an independent advisory body directed by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, the UN Millennium Project submitted its recommendations to the UN Secretary General in January 2005. The core of the UN Millennium Project's work has been carried out by 10 thematic Task Forces comprising more than 250 experts from around the world, including scientists, development practitioners, parliamentarians, policymakers, and representatives from civil society, UN agencies, the World Bank, the IMF, and the private sector. This report argues that meeting the Millennium Development Goals will require a substantial reorientation of development policies to focus on key sources of economic growth, particularly the use of scientific and technological knowledge and related institutional adjustments. It outlines key areas for policy action, including focusing on platform or generic technologies; defining infrastructure services as a foundation for technology; improving higher education in science and placing universities at the center of local development; spurring entrepreneurial activities; improving the policy environment; and focusing on areas of under-funded research for development.