Understanding Knowledge Societies Report of UNDESA/DPADM. Measurement Aspects. Irene Tinagli Tunis, 17 Nov World Summit on Information Society

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1 Understanding Knowledge Societies Report of UNDESA/DPADM Measurement Aspects by Irene Tinagli Tunis, 17 Nov World Summit on Information Society

2 About Measurement WHY? To assess & better understand status To compare (benchmark) To motivate and guide action To verify and evaluate results HOW? Effective/Faithful representation Good proxy Objectivity reliability of the source Comparability Homogeneity of data Role of International Organizations in collecting meaningful data to support such efforts

3 Measuring Knowledge Societies: The Challenge Translate new, complex concepts into measurable indicators Indicators Identification & Selection Find Sources that do collect those meaningful indicators (or close proxies) in an homogeneous, reliable way Find Data for the wider possible sample of countries The result is inevitably experimental and imperfect, Still, a first step of a novel approach to Understanding Knowledge Societies

4 Conceptual Framework: What makes a Knowledge Society? People and Information ASSETS Ability to nurture and advance those assets ( to allow limitless development of people and information ) ADVANCEMENT Ability to stir the change in the right direction, i.e. advance in a way that is inclusive and respectful of the quality and safety of life for all FORESIGHTEDNESS

5 The UN-Index of Knowledge Societies Final Index UN-IKS Dimensions Assets Advancing Foresightedness

6 Measuring Assets People 2 main aspects: Quantity (% of population below 15 years) Actual Ability to participate to knowledge society (Expected Years of Education) Information availability of 3 critical means through which information flows: Newspapers (# per thousand population) Telephone (# of fixed and mobile lines per 100 population) Internet (# users per 10,000 population)

7 Measuring Advancement Advancement of People allow them to prosper and participate to knowledge society through: Personal conditions: Good Health (Health Expenditure) Social conditions: peaceful and stable env t (Military Expenditure) Advancement of Information allow the continuous creation and development of information: Investments in advanced knowledge (Total R&D Expenditure) Investments in basic education (Pupil/Teacher ratio) Advancement of both through existence of an institutional system that grants: civil freedom, political freedom, freedom of the press and freedom from corruption

8 Measuring Foresightedness Ability to grow respecting people: Maintaining Fair Income Distribution (Gini Index) Keep Child Mortality low Ability to grow respecting the natural environment: Carbon monoxide emissions Percentage of protected areas on total land areas

9 Final Structure of UN-IKS Final Index UNIKS Dimensions Assets Advancing Foresightedness Underlying Indicators Years of Schooling Young population Newspapers Internet users Phones & Cells R&D Expenditure Gov t Health Expenditure Military Expenditure Pupil/teacher Ratio Freedom from Corruption Child Mortality GINI Index Protected Areas CO2 emissions

10 Main Findings of the Survey DIFFICULT BALANCE The complexity of Knowledge societies is reflected by the complexity of the selected indicators, on which no country manages to perform equally well; TOP COUNTRIES The top 5 countries in the overall IKS ranking are: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, and Finland; NO SIZE ADVANTAGE all the top countries are small countries with relatively small economies change in critical competitive resources.

11 Main Findings, cont d RELATIONSHIP with GDP Generally positive for assets and certain aspects of advancement, BUT much more complex for Foresightedness : Foresightedness GDP per capita Increases in wealth do not seem to go hand in hand with increases in equality of distribution and quality of life

12 Conclusions Complex path. The path towards the creation of a knowledge society is not linear complex and multidimensional; About People. Investing in hardware like PCs or internet diffusion is not enough; Inadequacy of traditional measures. GDP, technological infrastructures, and other traditional measures are inadequate to capture the essence of Knowledge societies, but.. Lack of new ones! New policies should also imply new measures to monitor their evolution and evaluate their impact this is a call for Governments, Universities and International organizations and Agencies.

13 THANKS!

14 Back Up Slide

15 Results Uniks Rank Country Name UNIKS Index Uniks Rank Country Name UNIKS Index Uniks Rank Country Name UNIKS Index 1 Sweden Israel Uruguay Denmark Belgium Panama Norway Rep. of Korea Greece Switzerland Spain Malaysia Finland Czech Rep Bulgaria Japan Italy Tunisia Germany Ireland Mexico Austria Costa Rica Bolivia New Zealand Hungary Moldova Rep UK Slovakia Ukraine Netherlands Estonia Brazil USA Poland Colombia Australia Croatia Egypt Canada Latvia Trinidad & T France Chile Madagascar 0.259

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