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This chapter evaluates the readiness of the higher education system to contribute to the competitiveness of African countries in the knowledge economy. Using institutions of higher learning in Kenya and Uganda as case studies, the study demonstrates that the higher education system in Africa is ill-equipped to fulfill the role of knowledge production for the advancement of African economies. The chapter proposed promising ways through which higher education in the region can play a more fulfilling role to the global knowledge economy through the formation of relevant skills for the growth of African economies. In an era where knowledge assets are accorded more importance than capital and labor assets, and where the economy relies on knowledge as the key engine of economic growth, this chapter argues that higher education institutions in Africa can assist in tackling the continent’s challenges through research in knowledge creation, dissemination, and utilization for improved productivity. These institutions need to engage in design-driven innovation in the emerging knowledge economy. To enhance their contributions toward human capital development and knowledge-intensive economies in the region, it is imperative to employ public-private initiatives to bridge and address various challenges and gaps facing universities and research institutions in Africa.

This chapter presents a theoretical and evidence-based investigation of the contribution that national educational systems make to the development of and transition to a knowledge economy in the Arabian Gulf, generally, and Saudi Arabia, specifically. The challenges to creating an Arabian Gulf knowledge economy are twofold. One is a functional and structural challenge of developing a knowledge economy-oriented mass education system. The other is a cultural and contextual challenge of aligning Arabian Gulf expectations, traditions, and norms with institutionalized expectations for knowledge economies. The knowledge economy development challenge that is specific to national versus non-national Gulf populations, information and communication technology (ICT), and formal mass education systems is highlighted. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the role that national innovation systems play in knowledge economy development in the Arabian Gulf countries.

Understanding the concept of a knowledge‐based economy; having a vision to make a new knowledge economy competitive; and creating and implementing a strategy to achieve that vision, would all seem to be fundamental steps for any economy striving to compete in the new global knowledge marketplace. While such issues may appear obvious, how many economies have actually responded effectively to these challenges? This paper first examines the concept of a knowledge‐based economy and then evaluates the relative performance of Australia across a profile of key knowledge‐based performance indicators. Finally, the paper addresses some key challenges facing Australia, and most other OECD economies, as they try to compete in this knowledge race in the new millennium.

The aim of this paper is to bring into question the idea of the global knowledge economy.

The paper explores the characteristics of the knowledge economy, as elaborated by academics and policy makers concerned with knowledge in the contemporary global business environment. A range of available data is reviewed concerning the global distribution of investments in knowledge, information and communications technologies (ICTs), international transactions in knowledge‐intensive services and royalty and licensing fees, employment by sector and literacy rates. Such data provide a basis for an initial critical evaluation of the notion of the global knowledge economy.

The use of the term “global knowledge economy” fails to acknowledge the uneven distribution of knowledge‐based economic activity. Moreover, as currently constituted, the idea of a global knowledge economy, which focuses on knowledge as conceptualised in the commercial activities of advanced countries, overlooks the diversity of knowledges present in the world today.

This paper provides the first attempt to question and critically explore the global knowledge economy.

This paper aims to model the national development of the knowledge economy and argue its policy implications.

The methodology is a deductive research approach. First, the paper examines fundamental epistemological assumptions of the literature on the knowledge economy to identify major views on the knowledge economy. Second, it synthesizes relevant studies of the knowledge economy to develop key concepts to be used in the theoretical model of the knowledge economy.

The paper argues that among three views of the knowledge economy (i.e., knowledge‐as‐asset, knowledge‐as‐relation, and knowledge‐as‐capability views), the knowledge‐as‐capability view is the most appropriate to explain the knowledge economy. However, this view is still evolving to explain the knowledge economy. Only a few studies have discussed national capabilities, but they omitted many points of capability as an aspect of knowledge. Although many studies have discussed organizational capabilities and provided some insight, these ideas are not directly applicable at the national level.

This paper suggests that to develop a knowledge economy a national government should be concerned about the balanced development of the whole system of the economy, while paying due attention to knowledge‐related activities.

This paper proposes a theoretical model of the knowledge economy, using original concepts of three types of national basic capability, i.e., epistemic capability, economic capability, and institutional capability and national developmental capability as the meta‐capability of leveraging, orchestrating, and restructuring those basic capabilities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of the knowledge-based economy in two distinctive case studies in the Arab World: Qatar and Lebanon. Based on five aspects of the knowledge-based economy namely: ICT, human capital and education; innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic and institutional regime, we provide a careful view of the obstacles and challenges that Qatar and Lebanon are facing and how this is hindering their transformation to a knowledge-based economy.

The methodology of this research is based on a literature review and information collected through semi-structured interviews with the different stakeholders of the knowledge-based economy in Qatar and Lebanon.

The research reveals that numerous factors shape the knowledge-based economy in Qatar and Lebanon. In Qatar, the main strength of the knowledge-based economy is the determination of the Qatari government to diversify the economy and the main weaknesses are the shortage of qualified human resources, the fear of failure and the low performance of the innovation system. In Lebanon, the knowledge-based economy is driven by the education system and the entrepreneurship culture, nevertheless the political instability of the country and the weak ICT infrastructure impede its development.

These findings contribute to the clarification and critical analysis of the current state of the knowledge-based economy in Qatar and Lebanon, which would have several policy implications.