Transitioning Towards a Knowledge Society

Wolfgang G. Stock is full professor and head of the Information Science Dept. of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. His research areas include studies on smart cities, social network services and information behavior. He is author of about 300 articles and books, thereof about 30 are on prototypical cities of the emerging knowledge society. Kaja J. Fietkiewicz is research associate at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. She is working on Social Media and on Smart Cities, especially in Japan. Julia Barth and Julia Gremm have been assistant lecturers for Smart City Research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. They conducted field researches on cities in the Gulf Region (especially, in Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E. and Oman) and published articles on the "Arabian Way" into knowledge society.

lt;p>Part I: Context

1 Informational Cities in the GCC States

1.1 The Gulf Region

1.3 Methods

1.4 Informational Cities in the GCC Countries?

2.1 Qatar as a Post-oil Knowledge-based State?

2.2 Geography and Climate

2.4 Culture and Religion

2.5 Politics

2.7 Economy

2.8 Public Health

2.10 Tradition versus Modernity

Part II: Concept

3.1 Definition of the Concepts

3.2 Indicators of the Country's Development Status

4 Methods

4.1 Grounded Theory Method

4.2 Rapid Ethnographic Field Study

4.4 Quantitative Data Analysis

4.5 E-Government and Government 2.0

Part III: Connection

5 Diversification of Knowledge-Based Industries and Foreign Investment

5.2 Information Industry

5.3 Renewable Energy Industry

5.5 Tourism Industry

5.6 Other Promising Industries

5.8 Summarizing Qatar's Diversification Strategies

6 Creativity and the Knowledge Society

6.2 Scientists, Engineers and Physicians and their Scientific Output

6.3 Exchange of Everyday Knowledge

6.4 Summarizing Qatar's Creativity and Knowledge Base

7 E-Government

7.1 Maturity of Governmental Websites

7.3 Summarizing Qatar's E-Government Strategies

8 Knowledge-Based Development

8.2 Development of the Corporate Landscape in the Knowledge Sector

8.3 Development of K-12 Education

9 Universities and other Institutions of Higher Education

9.1 The University Landscape of Doha

9.2 Level of Research and Education

9.3 Research and University Funding

9.4 Internationality: Opportunity or Risk?

9.5 Summarizing Qatar's Higher Education Ambitions

10 Students and Graduates

10.1 Qatari versus Expatriate Students

10.2 Female versus Male Students

10.3 Public versus Private Universities

10.4 Summarizing Qatar's Higher Education Conditions

11 Transition of Graduates into the Labor Market

11.1 Level of Graduates: Qataris versus Expats

11.2 Different Paths taken by Post-Graduates

11.3 Private versus Public Sector as Employer Prospect

11.4 Can an Increase in Motivation promote Qatarization?

11.5 Summarizing the Possibilities of Qatar's Graduates

12 Libraries, Science Parks and Research Funding

12.1 Libraries and Librarians

12.2 Science and Technology Parks and Science Funding

12.3 Triple Helix Partnerships

12.4 Summarizing Qatar's further Knowledge-Intensive Institutions

Part IV: Conclusion

13 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Qatar's Way into the Knowledge

Society

13.1 Strengths

13.2 Weaknesses

13.3 Opportunities

13.4 Threats

Index