Seminars on Knowledge-Based Economies in the 21st Century and Transforming Asian Economies with E-Services
Welcome Remarks by
Geert H.P.B. van der Linden
Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank
At the 39th ADB Annual Meeting
3 May 2006
Hyderabad, India
Honorable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
On behalf of the Asian Development Bank, I welcome you to today's two seminars on Knowledge Based Economies in the 21st Century, and Transforming Asian Economies with E-Services.
Almost 200 years ago, the Scottish economist Adam Smith emphasized the role of education and the development of human capability (i) in leading a worthwhile life, as well as; (ii) in creating more productive societies. What Smith could not have foreseen is the introduction of Information and Communication Technology, or ICT, and the effect this would have on human and economic development.
Today, there is a widespread consensus that the knowledge economy is upon us. This new era is revolutionizing how workers work, how organizations and nations compete and how information is used and applied. Advances in ICT are giving rise to a global, networked economy, characterized by the mobility of information. They are reshaping our world. To succeed in this increasingly competitive and global economy, countries must have an advanced ICT infrastructure, a highly educated workforce, dynamic research and innovation programs, and a supportive regulatory environment. They must have the know-how to generate, share and use knowledge. They also must have the efficiency to provide services and goods and the capability to protect intellectual property rights.
These new dynamics have serious implications for developing countries, including those in Asia and the Pacific. Countries that fail to transform effectively into knowledge-based economies will fall further and further behind, widening the disparities between developing and developed economies.
The ability of ADB's member countries to develop, capture, apply and, where appropriate, commercialize knowledge will be essential for meeting the region's development challenges. Indeed, the widening gap between developed and developing countries highlights the urgency for developing countries to build and upgrade their science and technology capacities.
As a partner in the region's development, ADB has an important role to play in assisting its developing member countries to compete in this changing environment. Multilateral development banks can produce knowledge to catalyze development, they can act as a clearinghouse for sharing best practices and lessons learned, and they can invest in building local capacity to efficiently innovate and use ICT. To this end, ADB has committed itself to harnessing knowledge for development as a strategic priority. Let me briefly touch on 3 areas in which we have intensified our work in recent years: knowledge sharing and training, fostering regional networks, and investment in ICT.
First on knowledge sharing. The ADB Institute in Tokyo, established in 1997, was set up to facilitate knowledge sharing. Since 2004, ADB and the Institute have jointly organized annual international conferences on ICT policies and strategies in education. In addition, many ADB projects, such as those in education, health and agriculture, have science and technology components, emphasizing the importance of training people for careers in R&D-related or other technical fields.
Secondly, ADB provides technical assistance to foster regional networks that promote knowledge sharing and the cultivation of expertise in specified scientific and technological fields. We are developing a series of knowledge hubs to support and strengthen research, and disseminate new development concepts and technologies. Under this initiative, several regional organizations and institutions will be tapped to serve as centers of excellence on emerging development topics, such as clean development and renewable energy. Today, ADB supports, some 300 regional networks. One example is the Academic and Research Network in the GMS established in January 2001 at the initiative of the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). The network now includes eleven of that region's top-ranking academic and research institutions, and carries out activities in human resources development, joint research, and dissemination of information and intellectual assets generated within the subregion. Its aim is to ensure that the subregion's intellectual knowledge and experience are widely shared among organizations, with a primary emphasis on the linkages between technological and socio-economic development issues.
And thirdly, we have many projects that focus specifically on ICT transfer in areas like e-learning, e-health, and e-governance. Our equity investment in the Grameen Telecommunications Project is facilitating the distribution of cellular phones throughout Bangladesh to serve as community-accessible pay-phones. And a recent Memorandum of Understanding with the Korean Government on the establishment of the E-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund will make it possible to further assist our DMCs in their progress toward knowledge-based economies.
ICT and e-learning play an increasing role in ADB's lending programs in the education sector, either as embedded components of large sector projects, or as specific stand-alone projects. Recent investments in this area include a loan to Uzbekistan to support development of ICT in basic education, and a regional project to study the potential of innovative ICT in education and related science and technology capabilities in our developing member countries.
Looking to the future, it will be essential to encourage public-private partnerships for science and technology, particularly since such partnerships offer strong potential for contributing to the relevance, feasibility, and sustainability of ICT solutions. Specific, focused investment will be required to build local capabilities for innovation and efficient utilization of ICT.
To effectively reduce the digital divide developing Asia will be challenged to encourage broad use of ICT for the benefit of all. Extending ICT to a wider range of users, including the poor, people living in remote areas, girls and women, and other disadvantaged groups is essential to progress. Access to education and training through e-learning will be important in most sectors, particularly to improve the participation of women in development and bridge the gender gap. Appropriate ICT solutions for improving the efficiency of health services and governance will also be needed. And the potential of e-governance in reducing the risk of corruption - a serious development challenge - is one of the most important areas where appropriate ICT and e-learning solutions can make a substantial difference in people's lives, and in a nation's future.
With these issues in mind, I am confident that today's seminars will provide a valuable contribution to the transformation to knowledge-based economies in developing Asia and the Pacific. I look forward to our discussions, and to continuing our work together in the years ahead.
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