N - Arab world far from knowledge society

Arab states have made progress in technology and research, but there is still a long way to go before the region becomes a knowledge society, according to a report described in a scidev.net article. Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive Intercommunication for Knowledge (www.mbrfoundation.ae/English/Documents/AKR-2009-En/AKR-English.pdf), proposes ways of filling what it says are numerous gaps in the Arab knowledge landscape. Many Arab countries now understand the importance of science and technology in promoting development, and some Arab institutions, such as the Qatar Foundation, are pioneers in this knowledge revolution. But Arab countries still have some of the lowest levels of research funding in the world (www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/science-in-the-islamic-world/news/arab-world-long-way-from-knowledge-society-1.html).

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