The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF)released the 2018 edition of the Global Knowledge Index (GKI) during the 5th Knowledge Summit held on 5-6December 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Center.
The GKI, in its second edition covers a total of 134 countries. It is the only index that measures knowledge on the global level, it highlights the strategic role of knowledge and the importance of developing objective and scientific tools to measure and evaluate it. The index measures components such as pre-university education, technical and vocational education and training, higher education, research development and innovation, information and communications technology, economy and enabling environment.
UAE jumps to the 19th position on the 2018 GlobalKnowledge Index while ranking first among all the Arab states. The UAE scored high when it came to pre-university education, with a rank of 13 out of 134countries. It jumped 10 places – from 24 to 14 – in technical and vocational education and training, and ranked 20th in higher education. However, similar to all oil countries, the UAE fared poorly in ‘Environment’ under the‘General Enabling Environment’ component as it ranked 131st in the category. Its carbon dioxide emissions relative to population were high, while its share of renewable energy consumption, out of the total consumption, was low.
Other countries in the MENA region are lagging far behind. For instance, Morocco has dropped 17 rungs on the international rank ladder (ranked 77th in 2017 and 94th in 2018). It is also headed by Qatar (43rd), Bahrain (44th), Kuwait (50th),Oman (62nd), Saudi Arabia (66th), Lebanon (47th)and Jordan (76th), which are all preceding Syria placed at the 103rd rank and Yemen at the very last rank (134th).
As for the sub-region of North Africa, Morocco ranks second behind Tunisia who swept the 1st place (82nd), followed by Egypt (99th). A laggard comes Algeria (104th) and Mauritania (131st). The case of Libya was not mentioned since it was not carried in this study.
Another report was also launched at the knowledge summit, entitled “The Future of Knowledge: A Foresight Report”, whichpresents a pilot study – covering 20 countries – on the future fields of knowledge that will shape the future of knowledge societies. The report particularly sheds light on five key future fields of knowledge: Artificial Intelligence(AI), Cybersecurity, Blockchain, Biotechnology, and Future Skills.
- More on the Knowledge Project here.
- Full reports: