Understanding and interpreting the drivers of the knowledge economy

Abstract

The Knowledge Economy (K-economy) is much heralded as enabling the death of distance, the opportunities and promise of human capital development via life long learning and e- learning, the development of learning communities and knowledge enrichment of communities through community portals, to mention a few of the implications. It is certainly quite obvious that the K-economy is much more, than just technological software or hardware. The enablement of knowledge acquisition and utilisation, so that information can be effectively, efficiently and meaningfully transformed into wisdom, is examined along two fronts: 1. Which drivers induce the diffusion and adoption of ICT globally? What attitudes and competencies facilitate or impede the adoption process? The notion of cognitive literacy will be examined in this context. 2. What are the needs and wants of knowledge societies that can be facilitated as design features for learning by understanding the subtleties of the dimensions of culture both from national and organisational perspectives? An eco- textural paradigm is used to frame the discussion of the integral role of enabling technologies, in learning, personal and cultural enrichment. It is envisaged that the role of both affective and cognitive dimensions will be validated in wisdom attainment as the fulfilment of the Knowledge Society. © 2005 by International Federation for Information Processing.