This book studies how the knowledge society has created new conditions of marginalities while empowering people through new age connectivity.

It is a great pleasure to share with you the Springer LNCS proceedings of the Second World Summit on the Knowledge Society, WSKS 2009, organized by the Open - search Society, Ngo, http://www.open-knowledge-society.org, and held in Samaria Hotel, in the beautiful city of Chania in Crete, Greece, September 16–18, 2009. The 2nd World Summit on the Knowledge Society (WSKS 2009) was an inter- tional scientific event devoted to promoting dialogue on the main aspects of the knowledge society towards a better world for all. The multidimensional economic and social crisis of the last couple of years has brought to the fore the need to discuss in depth new policies and strategies for a human centric developmental processes in the global context. This annual summit brings together key stakeholders involved in the worldwide development of the knowledge society, from academia, industry, and government, including policy makers and active citizens, to look at the impact and prospects of - formation technology, and the knowledge-based era it is creating, on key facets of l- ing, working, learning, innovating, and collaborating in today’s hyper-complex world. The summit provides a distinct, unique forum for cross-disciplinary fertilization of research, favoring the dissemination of research on new scientific ideas relevant to - ternational research agendas such as the EU (FP7), OECD, or UNESCO. We focus on the key aspects of a new sustainable deal for a bold response to the multidimensional crisis of our times.

Springer is proud to announce that 'Universities in the Knowledge Society' has received the ASHE-CIHE award for Significant Research on International Higher Education. Congratulations to Timo Aarrevaara, Martin Finkelstein, Glen A. Jones, Jisun Jung and all contributors! This book explores the complex, multi-faceted relationships between national research and innovation systems and higher education. The transition towards knowledge societies/economies is repositioning the role of the university and transforming the academic profession. The volume provides a foundational introduction to the concepts of knowledge society and knowledge economy, and these concepts ground the detailed case studies of eighteen systems, located across five continents. Each case study was written by a leading expert in that jurisdiction, and provides a critical analysis of the research and development infrastructure, the role of universities, and the implications for the academic profession. The book describes how nations in various geographic regions and at various stages of economic maturity are restructuring their university systems to adapt to the new imperatives, and provides a cross-case analysis identifying common themes and distinctive features. In telling the story of higher education’s on-going global metamorphosis, the contributing authors place current developments in the context of the university’s historic evolution, survey the changing metrics that national governments are adopting to measure university performance, and describe a new international project, the Academic Profession in the Knowledge-based Society [APiKS] that involved a common survey of academics in more than twenty countries to take the pulse of developments “on the ground” while documenting the challenges confronting knowledge workers in the new economy.

Urges governments to expand quality education for all, increase community access to information and communication technology, and improve cross-border scientific knowledge-sharing, in an effort to narrow the digital and "knowledge" divides between the North and South and move towards a "smart" form of sustainable human development.

The book offers a critical evaluation of Qatar’s path from oil- and gas-based industries to a knowledge-based economy. This book gives basic information about the region and the country, including the geographic and demographic data, the culture, the politics and the economy, the health care conditions and the education system. It introduces the concepts of knowledge society and knowledge-based development and adds factual details about Qatar by interpreting indicators of the development status. Subsequently, the research methods that underlie the study are described, which offers information on the eGovernment study analyzing the government-citizen relationship, higher education institutions and systems, its students and the students’ way into the labor market. This book has an audience with economists, sociologists, political scientists, geographers, information scientists and other researchers on the knowledge society, but also all researchers and practitioners interested in the Arab Oil States and their future.

This book examines ways in which professional and vocational education and training can contribute towards building the emerging 'knowledge society'. In particular, it explores ways in which education and training can support the generation of the 'action-oriented' and social knowledge that people require for living and working in today's world. A special focus of the book is on the distinctive role and contribution of the research and development community in taking proactive steps to shape the form of the knowledge society coming into being. The book contains a number of reflections and illustrations by those engaged in research and development work about the most appropriate knowledge development strategies to be employed in today's context. One of the key challenges highlighted by many of the authors in this volume is the need for researchers to adopt more 'action-oriented' approaches. This entails working closely with practitioners in 'collaborative learning networks' for the co-development of knowledge.

The growing importance of knowledge, research, innovation and evolving perspectives on expertise with the usage of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) are changing the sociology of knowledge in the globalized world. Universities are the major institutions involved in the production and dissemination of knowledge. This book looks at ICT for education initiatives taken up towards building a Knowledge Society as emphasized in national education policy regimes for encouraging knowledge generation, knowledge acquisition, knowledge diffusion and the exploitation of knowledge. The research examines the present practice of ICT adoption in an existing framework of University of Hyderabad (UOH) and Tezpur University (TZU) through intensive case study. The research attempts to analyze issues of knowledge, governance and access using ICT; the application of communication technologies in Higher Education Sector that helps in fulfilling the goal of a Knowledge Society; the communication process and strategies in the networking of higher education into a Knowledge Society; existing ‘digital divide’ and the implications. The Stakeholder’s perspective further highlights the advantages and the challenges faced in the actual implementation of ICT4E. Based on the study, the research offers recommendations for management, human resources, processes and institutional culture in ICT4E implementation.

Introduction : governing and managing knowledge in Asia / Thomas Menkhoff, Hans-Dieter Evers and Yue Wah Chay -- pt. I. What is knowledge?. ch. 1. Knowledge of enterprise : knowledge management or knowledge technology? / Milan Zeleny. ch. 2. "Knowledge" and the sociology of science / Hans-Dieter Evers -- pt. II. The rise of Asian knowledge society. ch. 3. The knowledge gap and the digital divide / Hans-Dieter Evers. ch. 4. Local and global knowledge : social science research on South-east Asia / Solvay Gerke and Hans-Dieter Evers. ch. 5. Transition towards a knowledge society : Malaysia and Indonesia in global perspective / Hans-Dieter Evers -- pt. III. Strategic groups as K-economy drivers. ch. 6. Knowledge management : an essential tool for the public sector / Thomas B. Riley. ch. 7. Reflections about the role of expert knowledge and consultants in an emerging knowledge-based economy / Hans-Dieter Evers and Thomas Menkhoff. ch. 8. Knowledge in development : epistemic machineries in a global context / Hans-Dieter Evers, Markus Kaiser and Christine Müller. ch. 9. Building vibrant science and technology parks with knowledge management : trends in Singapore / Thomas Menkhoff [und weitere]. ch. 10. Applying knowledge management in university research / Benjamin Loh [und weitere] -- pt. IV. KM applications and challenges. ch. 11. Notes from an "Intelligent Island" : towards strategic knowledge management in Singapore's small business sector / Thomas Menkhoff, Yue Wah Chay and Benjamin Loh. ch. 12. Collaboration and competition : the Knowledge Research Institute of Singapore as a model KM system / Patrick Lambe. ch. 13. Creating a KM platform for strategic success : a case study of Wipro Technologies, India / RaviShankar Mayasandra N. and Shan Ling Pan -- pt. V. Focus on K-sharing behavior in organizations. ch. 14. What makes knowledge sharing in organizations tick? - an empirical study / Yue Wah Chay [und weitere]. ch. 15. The moderating effects of friendship ties and dispositional factors on inducement and knowledge sharing among employees / Ho-Beng Chia [und weitere]