Francis Onencan Onek
Finance and Administration Manager, BOSCO, Uganda
At present, I see knowledge society as a human structured organization based on contemporary developed knowledge and representing a new quality of life support system. This society is based on knowledge distribution, access to information and capability of transferring information into knowledge. Knowledge distribution can take any of the following means; success or failure stories, bulletin board, discussion groups, step by step, reviews, subscription and frequently asked questions in home page or magazine. In all these the digital medium seems to be gaining shape as the most reliable in terms of distribution, accessibility and transferability of information into knowledge in a knowledge society. The challenge, however, still remains in the developing world where the cost of internet is sky rocking, while energy, electricity and even connectivity quality is still poor, coupled to the exclusion of their traditional ideas or cultural preservation. Sharing knowledge on how to design or transfer the knowledge sharing practices in the developing world onto the digital platform would go a long way in dealing with the issues of exclusion, acceptance, boundaries hence a borderless knowledge society. I envision a society where technological development, culture and boundaries are no longer barriers to knowledge sharing for development.
Knowledge Development Goals:
- to establish a universal knowledge development framework or guiding principles just like the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), this is to standardize knowledge development without having to take away creativity and the sustainable development aspect of it.
- to establish an inclusive knowledge for development working groups across the globe that embraces bottom up approach of knowledge utilization in fostering development while preserving the environment.
Knowledge Agenda. The most relevant and urgent actions to be taken:
- Increase access to ICT, more ICT centres should be established in the rural communities and the local communities trained on the use of ICT for development.
- Increase access to electricity and solar energy by the rural communities
- Developing an actual partnership in between the so called developing and developed countries for creation of a global knowledge society. This will also help to avoid brain drain because of the existence of knowledge without borders.