Knowledge Policy: Challenges of the Twenty‐first Century

Citation

Fourie, I. (2010), "Knowledge Policy: Challenges of the Twenty‐first Century", The Electronic Library, Vol. 28 No. 6, pp. 899-900. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471011093624

According to the editors, Greg Hearn and David Rooney, the intention with Knowledge Policy is to illustrate how the production of knowledge has become central to economic life, and that competitiveness in the twenty‐first century market place is characterized by the ability to translate scientific and technological knowledge into innovation. They argue that our dependence on knowledge is becoming more complex and is presenting new challenges. “We diffuse knowledge by communicating: exchanging ideas, arguing, reading, asking questions and so on” (p. 1). The question then arises if cultural and social knowledge is unimportant and how to prepare citizens to participate in the knowledge economy. In their quest to find answers Greg Hearn and David Rooney collected 18 very good contributions on a wide spectrum of issues that falls within knowledge policy.

Knowledge Policy starts with contributions that define and raise the fundamental questions surrounding the nature of knowledge and structure of knowledge economies. These are followed by chapters dealing in different ways, with the policy domains, which might be the core of the knowledge economy. These include education, science and technology, innovation, and creative industries. There are also chapters dealing with more traditional arenas such as environment, immigration, defence, etc.

Getting to more specific detail Knowledge Policy covers knowledge services, education and the knowledge economy, as well as women and cognitive authority in the knowledge economy. There are also chapters on cultural and creative industries, a discussion on “from creative industries to creative economy” and the information society policy. The role of the media in the knowledge economy as well as science and technology policy futures, and the need for a macroeconomic knowledge policy (justifying science) is also discussed. The new biology and its implications for knowledge policy are also dealt with. Copyright 2010 and the need for better negotiability/usability principles, the industry policy as innovation policy and employment and innovation in the information economy is discussed in the last three chapters.

I will only highlight the content of a few chapters in more detail. In chapter 3, Michael Peters discusses how the two concepts of “knowledge economy” and “knowledge capitalism” are beginning to transform education policy. In chapter 4, Juli Eflin shows why a broader definition of knowledge is required from epistemological considerations”. In chapter 11 the focus is on genetics, while chapter 12 considers some of the driving forces for change in both science and the creative content, and some examples of how we might perceive copyright law in years to come.

Knowledge Policy concludes with a detailed 15‐page index. The well bounded, hard copy book is certainly a valuable contribution to the field and recommended for the serious scholar and researcher looking for an expansion of horizons and thoughtful contributions on challenging issues.