Fostering GCC's Knowledge Economy through ICT: Research in Progress

Abstract

The transformation toward the knowledge economy is inevitable for countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which currently seek to diversify their economies away from heavy dependence on the diminishing resource of oil. The knowledge economy, based on the abundant resource of knowledge, can be promising for small developing countries. This research-in-progress study assesses the value of information and communications technologies (ICT) pillar on the GCC's knowledge economy and its other pillars of education and human resources, economic and institutional regimes, and innovation systems. Based on a simple correlation analysis of 1995, 2000, and 2012 knowledge economy indices of GCC countries, this paper illustrates the increasing value of ICT in exploiting knowledge resources and developing the knowledge economy and its pillars. Its findings can assist GCC and other developing countries in further investing in ICT to develop their knowledge economy and consequently gain economic value from exploiting its knowledge resources.