The Arab Knowledge Project seeks to promote knowledge generation and dissemination in the Arab region. It is the result of the partnership between UNDP and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation that has launched a five-year second phase of the collaborative effort on the Arab Knowledge Project, a pioneering regional programme which started in 2007. 

This Arab Knowledge Index is one of the fruits of the Arab Knowledge Project and builds on the three previous reports: the “Arab Knowledge Report 2009: Towards Productive Intercommunication for Knowledge”, the “Arab Knowledge Report 2010/2011: Preparing Future Generations for the Knowledge Society” and the “Arab Knowledge Report 2014: Youth and Localisation of Knowledge”. Throughout the preparation stages of all three reports, it has been continuously confirmed that there is a significant lack of credible data and research that can feed the decision making process in the areas of knowledge and development. Hence, there is a need for region-specific monitoring and evaluation tools that take into consideration the Arab region’s contexts, cultures and needs, which is not the case with the currently available international tools. 

This led to the development of the Arab Knowledge Index, an index that best reflects “knowledge from a development perspective” in the Arab region, while taking into consideration the Arab region’s specific context, needs and challenges, and focusing as well on the critical role of Arab youth in the establishment of the knowledge society in the Arab region.

The Arab Knowledge Index focuses on several critical sectors: Education at its Pre-University, Higher and Technical Vocational and Training levels, Research & Development and Innovation, Economy, and ICT. It employs more than 300 variables across these different sectors.

The Arab Knowledge Index is distinguished by taking into consideration, and for the first time, sectors that are often not well considered in similar attempts, such as the Technical Vocational Education and Training sector, the relation between R&D and innovation, and the interaction between the different sectors.

As part of its efforts to disseminate the Arab Knowledge Index, UNDP/RBAS together with Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation are holding a series of post-launch events in main Arab and international cities; the upcoming event will be held at Chaine El-Djazair – Hotel Saint George in Algeria on 10 May 2016.

The event is organized to host 150 participants from Algeria and will be under the patronage and in the presence of Pr. Tahar Hadjar, Ministre de l Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique.