Abu-Ghazaleh Key Speaker at the Knowledge Management Conference (KM Middle East 2012)
14-Mar-2012
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Special to ag-IP-news Agency
ABU DHABI - Under the patronage of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (DED), the Knowledge Management Conference (KM Middle East 2012) kicked off its activities today at Abu Dhabi Fairmont Hotel Sea-gate (Bab Al-Bahr).
Mr. Mohammad Omar Abdallah, DED under-secretary stressed on the importance of this conference which is being held for the third year and became a launching pad to exchange ideas regarding knowledge and created an excellent opportunity for the public and private sectors to interact.
He pointed out that the development achieved by the Emirates in the knowledge field which has been reflected in its advancement in the ranking from the 49th place among world countries in 2010 to 28 in 2012 according to UN E-Governments Survey.
In his opening keynote address, HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, chairman and CEO of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Overseas Corporation (TAGOCorp) tackled Towards an Arab Knowledge Economy saying:"Knowledge Management and Knowledge Economy in the Arab world are two distinguished concepts but so depending on each other. Knowledge Management focuses on society as knowledge economy depends on Knowledge Management."
He added:" The World Bank stated that Knowledge Economy depends on various elements of change in the society which are organized through innovation, education, information and communications technology in addition to the economic incentive system."
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh discussed the concept of knowledge in the Arab world saying:" The Arab Knowledge Report 2009 used the term "knowledge" to include all forms of society knowledge and culture from the perspective of the fact that knowledge is the timekeeper key to the overall humanitarian activities of development, and thus knowledge seeks to expand the options and opportunities for the advancement of Arab people and the achievement of freedom and its dignity. The word "knowledge" in Arabic has evolved influenced by technological and cultural changes, moving from being dominated by the elites that have become for all members of society."
Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh also stressed on the importance of the social and economic pressure on the acceleration of the Arab transformation towards knowledge economy saying that there are five million unemployed in the Arab world as one of the main reasons for this transformation while there is also a need for plans for oil and gas producers to move to the post oil era.
He added that the Arab world has huge intellectuals distributed in the Diaspora and the virtual education will be a modernized method to attract such capabilities.
He also said that the United Arab Emirates is considered one of the pioneers in the transformation towards the knowledge economy thanks to the support of the country’s wise leadership that set up the required laws and regulations, the appropriate infrastructure to generate and manage knowledge.
Meanwhile, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh included in his speech several initiatives by TAGOCorp:
• University of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh (UTAG) with its modern programs and methods of teaching, and previously Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Graduate School of Business (Jordan) and Talal Abu-Ghazaleh University of Bahrain.
• Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Knowledge Society: which is considered a window of
• knowledge for university students
• TAGIPEDIA: Arabic encyclopedia « TAGIPEDIA » is the first project to establish an electronic system for the dissemination of knowledge on the Internet in the Arab world
• TAGITOP: The TAGITOP initiative aims at introducing an affordable top of the line laptop to every Arab citizen, in an effort to increase the level of computer literacy in the Arab region
• UNESCO/TAGOCorp ICT Indicators
• News Agencies: Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property, Talal Abu-Ghazaleh International, TAG Education News Agency.
• The Arab Organization for Quality Assurance in Education (AROQA): under the umbrella of the League of Arab States
• Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN): under the umbrella of the League of Arab States with the support of the European Union
• Talal Abu-Ghazaleh e-cloud
• Abu-Ghazaleh Cambridge ICT literacy skills initiative
• The founding meeting of the Arab Coalition of Service Industries: within the UNCTAD conference to be held in Doha April 16, 2012.