|
Dynamos of The Future
The Competitive Advantage
Key Technology
Last Update:
10 May, 2000
| |
| The Edge : April 3 , 2000 |
K-Economy
Key technology to stay ahead
By Ramesh Kumar Nadarajah |
Since the dawn of time, man
has sought to improve his lot in life through development — whether societal,
spiritual, economic or otherwise. From a society of hunter-gatherers, we became farmers
and herdsmen. Then, as we gained more control over our environment with developing
technology, we began to mass produce what we needed — we industrialised. Now we are
on the brink of the knowledge-based economy, or k-economy.
Knowledge has always played a part in man’s survival and development. Early cavemen
needed and used knowledge — where to hunt, how to communicate, what could safely be
eaten and so on. Farmers and herdsmen needed knowledge regarding crops and animal
husbandry and the modern man of the industrial world uses his knowledge to design, produce
and market his goods. Development, especially economic development, has largely been the
focus, although not always.
So what then is the k-economy? Why is “knowledge” gaining such prominence now
despite having always been a key element in economic development and the quest to increase
productivity?
In the past, key factors acknowledged as driving an economy were land, labour and capital.
Although knowledge has always played a role, its true contribution was rarely recognised.
With rapid technological development now driving industrialisation and globalisation,
however, there is a dawning recognition that information and knowledge have been vastly
undervalued by traditional accounting systems.
Reliance on the traditional economic factors results in diminishing returns — there
is only so much land, labour and capital available and throwing more of the same into a
system is not justified by the increase in productivity. How does knowledge make a
difference?
The assumption is that an economy based on knowledge will provide increasing returns as
knowledge is not a finite resource. But this is not to say that the traditional economic
factors will no longer be relevant. Land, labour and capital are still necessary but will
have a lesser role to play in driving the economy.
Existing industries and economic activities such as agriculture and manufacturing will
continue to be of importance to developing nations like Malaysia.
Embracing the k-economy will involve increasing the use of knowledge in our industries. To
a degree, this was in fact recognised in the Second Malaysian Industrial Master Plan
— the need to move Malaysian manufacturers from purely manufacturing to value-added
activities both upstream (such as research and development of and designing new products)
and downstream (such as commercialisation, marketing, and creating brand-names).
To be competitive in the global k-economy, however, it may not be enough to rely on our
traditional industries with tangible products. There is also a need to develop new
industries to produce information and knowledge products.
Both these approaches to being competitive in a k-economy rely on information and
communication technology (ICT) more than any other single type of technology.
ICT is a key factor in the k-economy. The defining characteristic of ICT, as we enter the
new millennium, is the fact that it enables information to be stored and accessed speedily
from almost anywhere in the world. This information, when internalised and contextualised,
is knowledge.
ICT provides an opportunity to increase the use of information and knowledge in our
existing economic activities. For example, access to up-to-date information around the
world through the Internet gives local manufacturers the necessary knowledge to customise
their products for specific markets; markets around the world may be exploited and
international brands may be built through electronic commerce; and intelligent or smart
products can be developed using the miracles of chip technology.
ICT also provides an excellent tool for new knowledge industries such as research
organisations and content producers as the world becomes increasingly hungry for
up-to-date, accurate and customised information. Researchers can now seek and acquire
information at the click of a mouse, and customise the same for clients with a few more
clicks. Content producers such as the news networks are able to customise and target
information to increasingly narrow customer profiles. The technology not only provides
access to the information but also the necessary delivery channels.
Malaysia’s conscious step into the Information Age is a recognition of the role of
ICT in achieving a k-economy. However, developing the economy alone is not enough to
achieve Vision 2020 — social development must occur in tandem. With this in mind,
social and community programmes are being formulated and implemented under initiatives
such as the National IT Agenda. The aim is not only to achieve a k-economy but also to
achieve a k-society by 2020.
Ramesh Kumar Nadarajah was a
lawyer by profession and is now a Policy Technologist with the NITC Secretariat in Mimos,
specialising in policy in relation to law and technology |
|
