Understanding Knowledge Societies Report of UNDESA/DPADM Measurement Aspects by Irene Tinagli Tunis, 17 Nov. 2005 World Summit on Information Society
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
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
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
The UN-Index of Knowledge Societies Final Index UN-IKS Dimensions Assets Advancing Foresightedness
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)
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
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
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
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.
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
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.
THANKS! itinagli@andrew.cmu.edu
Back Up Slide
Results Uniks Rank Country Name UNIKS Index Uniks Rank Country Name UNIKS Index Uniks Rank Country Name UNIKS Index 1 Sweden 0.776 16 Israel 0.612 31 Uruguay 0.500 2 Denmark 0.763 17 Belgium 0.611 32 Panama 0.499 3 Norway 0.719 18 Rep. of Korea 0.599 33 Greece 0.482 4 Switzerland 0.706 19 Spain 0.572 34 Malaysia 0.471 5 Finland 0.704 20 Czech Rep. 0.571 35 Bulgaria 0.461 6 Japan 0.696 21 Italy 0.563 36 Tunisia 0.458 7 Germany 0.696 22 Ireland 0.558 37 Mexico 0.457 8 Austria 0.692 23 Costa Rica 0.556 38 Bolivia 0.431 9 New Zealand 0.692 24 Hungary 0.543 39 Moldova Rep. 0.415 10 UK 0.688 25 Slovakia 0.533 40 Ukraine 0.393 11 Netherlands 0.675 26 Estonia 0.529 41 Brazil 0.390 12 USA 0.632 27 Poland 0.512 42 Colombia 0.389 13 Australia 0.627 28 Croatia 0.511 43 Egypt 0.384 14 Canada 0.622 29 Latvia 0.511 44 Trinidad & T. 0.368 15 France 0.616 30 Chile 0.502 45 Madagascar 0.259