Transitioning Towards a Knowledge Society (eBook)

Wolfgang G. Stock is full professor and head of the Information Science Dept. of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. His research areas include studies on smart cities, social network services and information behavior. He is author of about 300 articles and books, thereof about 30 are on prototypical cities of the emerging knowledge society. Kaja J. Fietkiewicz is research associate at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. She is working on Social Media and on Smart Cities, especially in Japan. Julia Barth and Julia Gremm have been assistant lecturers for Smart City Research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. They conducted field researches on cities in the Gulf Region (especially, in Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E. and Oman) and published articles on the “Arabian Way” into knowledge society.

Part I: Context 1 Informational Cities in the GCC States 1.1 The Gulf Region 1.2 Background: Cities in the Knowledge Society 1.3 Methods 1.4 Informational Cities in the GCC Countries? 2 Qatar in a Nutshell 2.1 Qatar as a Post-oil Knowledge-based State? 2.2 Geography and Climate 2.3 Demography and Language 2.4 Culture and Religion 2.5 Politics 2.6 Rentier State and Rentier Mentality 2.7 Economy 2.8 Public Health 2.9 Education 2.10 Tradition versus Modernity Part II: Concept 3 Knowledge Economy and Knowledge-Based Development 3.1 Definition of the Concepts 3.2 Indicators of the Country’s Development Status 4 Methods 4.1 Grounded Theory Method 4.2 Rapid Ethnographic Field Study 4.3 Qualitative Interviews 4.4 Quantitative Data Analysis 4.5 E-Government and Government 2.0 4.6 SWOT Analysis Part III: Connection 5 Diversification of Knowledge-Based Industries and Foreign Investment 5.1 Oil and Gas Industry 5.2 Information Industry 5.3 Renewable Energy Industry 5.4 MICE Industry 5.5 Tourism Industry 5.6 Other Promising Industries 5.7 Foreign Investments 5.8 Summarizing Qatar’s Diversification Strategies 6 Creativity and the Knowledge Society 6.1 Creativity and Innovation 6.2 Scientists, Engineers and Physicians and their Scientific Output 6.3 Exchange of Everyday Knowledge 6.4 Summarizing Qatar’s Creativity and Knowledge Base 7 E-Government 7.1 Maturity of Governmental Websites 7.2 E-Government Social Media Study 7.3 Summarizing Qatar’s E-Government Strategies 8 Knowledge-Based Development 8.1 Support and Restrictions 8.2 Development of the Corporate Landscape in the Knowledge Sector 8.3 Development of K-12 Education 8.4 Summarizing Qatar’s Support of Knowledge-based Development 9 Universities and other Institutions of Higher Education 9.1 The University Landscape of Doha 9.2 Level of Research and Education 9.3 Research and University Funding 9.4 Internationality: Opportunity or Risk? 9.5 Summarizing Qatar’s Higher Education Ambitions 10 Students and Graduates 10.1 Qatari versus Expatriate Students 10.2 Female versus Male Students 10.3 Public versus Private Universities 10.4 Summarizing Qatar’s Higher Education Conditions 11 Transition of Graduates into the Labor Market 11.1 Level of Graduates: Qataris versus Expats 11.2 Different Paths taken by Post-Graduates 11.3 Private versus Public Sector as Employer Prospect 11.4 Can an Increase in Motivation promote Qatarization? 11.5 Summarizing the Possibilities of Qatar’s Graduates 12 Libraries, Science Parks and Research Funding 12.1 Libraries and Librarians 12.2 Science and Technology Parks and Science Funding 12.3 Triple Helix Partnerships 12.4 Summarizing Qatar’s further Knowledge-Intensive Institutions Part IV: Conclusion 13 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Qatar’s Way into the Knowledge Society 13.1 Strengths 13.2 Weaknesses 13.3 Opportunities 13.4 Threats 13.5 Hypothetical Scenarios Index