GCC profits from knowledge

It was fun to live in the GCC when the barrel of oil was traded at $150 (Dh550.9). The petro-money was flowing in, which attracted many futurologists and management consultants. The big consulting firms expanded dramatically, boutique consultancies were created - everyone had an interesting view on how to invest in the future for the days when oil and gas would no longer be enough. International gurus and lesser known 'experts' grabbed the opportunity to help the GCC countries.

Now the party seems to be a bit less wild (where is the party going at the moment any way?) and many high level advisers have taken their fees and left their high level advices with the local stakeholders.

What remains is a series of strategic plans to 'diversify' and move to what was the talk of the day - the transition to a knowledge society.

Knowledge is the raw material of many activities. All the national plans, even the most mercantilist visions, have at their core some form of intellectual input.

Qatar invests in information, communication, education (Al Jazeera, Doha Centre for Media Freedom, RAND-Qatar, Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar, just to name a few).

Bahrain uses the knowledge-intensive banking and finance industry as a flagship for its development. Dubai has an ambitious plan for trade, logistics, and tourism. Abu-Dhabi positions itself high on complementary activities such as culture with Saadiyat Island's Louvre and Guggenheim Museums and Sorbonne University's courses on culture management and art.

Knowledge takes time to acquire and a couple of PowerPoint slide packs with clever tag lines will not do the trick. What are needed are long term commitments first to train people and the opportunity to do some home work. This is what education is all about.

Higher education, as any scholar will tell you, goes hand in hand with research, a noble activity that opens the mind and creates a culture of constructive critique and innovation, which are much needed in the region.

In this context, a series of undertakings are emerging. GCC countries are taken up seriously the conclusion from pretty much all studies - science, technology and innovation are the necessary components of the next wave of development.

The Supreme Council of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council, held in Muscat on December 29 to 30 2008, stated the importance for all member states "to continue their work in developing their individual capacities, through the application of knowledge and state of the art technologies, including intensifying efforts to develop their human resources and scientific research."

Research is indeed a hot topic in the GCC. Over the past couple of decades the new raison d'être of science is that of competitiveness - in a knowledge economy, research is the main source of competitive advantage and scientists are expected to provide the input to value creation.

The steps are as typically follows - an agency is created to coordinate research policies. It proceeds to define its thematic priorities and means of interventions (typically competitive grant awards). Then the state commits to financial resources and the agency manages the research policy autonomously (or at least largely so).

This is currently happening throughout the region. While the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences is fairly old by regional standards, many activities have occurred over the past few years. The Research Council of the Sultanate of Oman was created in 2005. The Qatar National Research Fund was established in 2006. Saudi Arabia's King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology released its first five-year plan for science and technology in 2007. The United Arab Emirates created their National Research Foundation in March 2008.

This is actually not the first time the oil producing countries of the region come into large amounts of money to spend.

The oil shocks of the past had already come with their share of dreams, visions, missions and strategies. However, this time is different for at least two reasons. First and foremost, the errors of the past have been analysed and the lessons learnt.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, what remains from the last spree is the investment in human resources. The generation that benefited from education in the 1970's and 1980's is now in charge, which means that nationals have graduate education and exposure to international experience. The absorptive capacity is much deeper and hence the willingness and ability to implement strategies are higher.

Overall, knowledge assets derived from research, when embodied in local stakeholders, are not highly volatile. While the creation of an 'Excellence Centre' simply by pouring billions of dollars is unlikely to work, a down-to-earth capacity building policy prior to bid for excellence is a safe bet. This is exactly what many Gulf nations are doing.

- Olivier Renard is an advisor at the Secretariat General of the Research Council of the Sultanate of Oman. The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Research Council or any other individual staff of the Secretariat.