{"id":41788,"date":"2019-12-02T11:22:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T11:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=41788"},"modified":"2019-12-02T11:22:06","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T11:22:06","slug":"gcc-countries-set-their-sights-on-knowledge-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=41788","title":{"rendered":"GCC countries set their sights on knowledge economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nDUBAI: The member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are increasingly moving toward becoming knowledge-based economies, a new report says \u2014 with an important caveat.<\/p>\n

\nDespite recent progress, the volume of research publications remains low compared with non-GCC countries, and is a long way behind more established knowledge economies, according to the report by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers (PwC).<\/p>\n

\nThe survey\u2019s findings and discussions with the region\u2019s research universities, have helped PwC to identify key challenges confronting the GCC research ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\nThese include attracting and retaining post-graduate and post-doctoral students; applying successfully for competitive funding; getting on board new researchers; mentoring and training of new researchers; and administrative support, such as grant application writing.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cGCC countries are very well aware about the issue (of poor volume of research),\u201d said Sally Jeffery, global education network leader at PwC.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhen we speak to ministries and universities, there\u2019s a common understanding of the issues they face, and they recognize the importance and urgency of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Developing quality education, and introducing training for the local labor force are examples of initiatives that are expected to generate the PhDs of tomorrow. (Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\n\u201cWhat\u2019s needed today is to move beyond the planning and start implementing. They can figure out the governance issues through piloting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nTo succeed in overcoming the problems, the report says, GCC governments will need to develop a clear national research agenda, establish supportive legal frameworks, distribute research funding effectively, incentivize academic and industry collaboration, and empower institutions and individuals. Universities also need to invest more in their research facilities.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou\u2019ve got to create those communities to support researchers on a day-to-day basis, for example how to apply for a grant, how to find the best supervisor, how to collaborate internationally,\u201d Jeffery said.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt takes a broad range of skills to be a successful researcher \u2026 Some of the best universities are the ones that support researchers with the administrative and knowledge management challenges that they face, in addition to academic and scientific support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nIn a major move, Saudi Arabia is setting up a research development office, and is encouraging collaborations and joint teams between international researchers and Saudi researchers.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThey\u2019re providing funding competitively, encouraging researchers to collaborate more with them, and the impact of that is much more powerful,\u201d said Jeffery.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cYou\u2019ve got to make funding available and provide support for those researchers to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe PwC report found, on the basis of\u00a0 2018 data, that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar account for the bulk of GCC academic research, and that the largest proportion originated from Saudi universities, with 23,448 publications.<\/p>\n

\nIn terms of population size, Qatar was found to be performing well regionally, with a ratio of 1.6 publications to every 1,000 inhabitants. In the UAE, seven universities dominated the country\u2019s research output. \u201cThe current gap between the GCC countries and more mature countries comes as no surprise, but it\u2019s expected to be bridged during the decades to come,\u201d said Anthony Hobeika, CEO of MENA Research Partners.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt\u2019s only recently that regional governments started implementing their long-term transformational visions, where education is a key component on the agendas,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDeveloping quality education, boosting private-sector participation, introducing training for the local labor force \u2014 these are a few examples of initiatives that are expected to generate the PhDs of tomorrow, and hence a wave of research publications.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHobeika expects Saudi Arabia to keep attracting large numbers of researchers, given the size of its population and economy.<\/p>\n

\nThe PwC report says GCC governments are taking action to increase the number of post-doctoral researchers and PhD students, but they have a long way to go.<\/p>\n

\nIn Saudi Arabia, for instance, the number of PhD students per 1,000 inhabitants is 0.34, compared with 2.69 for the UK. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy given the global competition for research talent. The region\u2019s top researchers are easily tempted to work in other countries where the ecosystem is more mature and they stand a greater chance of making an impact more quickly,\u201d Jeffery said.<\/p>\n

\nThat being said, some Gulf public intellectuals believe it is not the number of publications that matters, but the quality. One of them is Dr. Sabah Binali, CEO of Universal Strategy. \u201cWhen looking at the figures, the actual usefulness of the data provided in terms of understanding where GCC countries stand in research is almost meaningless,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\u201cSimply put, 1,000 publications that don\u2019t lead to actual market innovation add nothing to the local economy. But a single publication that leads to market innovation can add great value to a country\u2019s economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBinali said it is not vital for the GCC to improve its research, as it is one link in a long chain of economic value addition.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\nIN<\/span>NUMBER<\/h4>\n
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\n34 – PhD students per 100,000 inhabitants in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n\u201cThe research needs to lead to product or service innovation. This then has to be marketed to clients, and so on. A simple example is Amazon, one of the largest companies in the world by market capitalization, which wasn\u2019t built on research but on customer service experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhat\u2019s missing in the GCC is an entrepreneurial environment where monopolies are dissolved and it\u2019s OK to make mistakes. The most celebrated companies, such as Careem and Souq, are all about entrepreneurship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nJeffery says research is one of the key drivers of a knowledge economy due to its capacity for creating more jobs in the region.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf you look at the amount of goods we import in the region, we need to create a stronger manufacturing sector, more jobs and reduce dependency on oil revenues. One of the biggest benefits of a serious R&D (research and development) capability is jobs and economic growth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cLarge industry players often choose to commission research from outside the region, so you need to encourage the faculty that you\u2019ve got to work more closely with industry and convince them to spend more money here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DUBAI: The member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are increasingly moving toward becoming knowledge-based economies, a new report says \u2014 with an important caveat. Despite recent progress, the volume of research publications remains low compared with non-GCC countries, and is a long way behind more established knowledge economies, according to the report by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}