Characteristics and Concepts of Knowledge Society

Due to technology, the world has become a small village with no cultural, geographical, or even temporal barriers. Contemporary society has also been described as an information or knowledge society, because information flows easily, effortlessly, and at great cost. It is worth noting that knowledge has contributed to changing societies in general, and economic societies in particular, thus becoming important in building effective decisions and, consequently, wise behavior, making it a vital element in the progress and development of nations. Hence, it was necessary to shed light on the concept of the knowledge society, its most prominent characteristics, dimensions, and foundations for its construction.

The Concept of Knowledge Society

 Knowledge means: Perceiving something as it is. It is said: He knows it well; That is, he knows it well. Self-knowledge means a person's understanding of his nature, abilities, or limits, and his awareness of the features and characteristics that make up his self. As for the term, it means what is formed in a person of concepts, beliefs, judgments, and perceptions related to everything that surrounds and is connected to him; due to his repeated attempts to understand the phenomena that revolve around him. In view of the previous concept of knowledge, it is worth saying that knowledge society is a modern term that studies have not produced a clear and accurate definition for, but there are those who have tried to define it from specialists; In order to provide a comprehensive definition related to it, some of these definitions are as follows:

• The United Nations Development Program Report for 2003 defined it as: "That society that is based primarily on the dissemination of knowledge, its production, and its efficient employment in all areas of societal activity: the economy, civil society, politics, and private life, in order to steadily advance the human condition; that is, establish human development."

• The Turkmen defined it as: "That society that takes knowledge as a primary, planning, and applied goal in various areas of its life, and makes good use of knowledge in managing its affairs, and in making sound, rational decisions. It is that society that produces information; to know the backgrounds and dimensions of matters of various kinds, not only in its country, but in all parts of the world."

  
  

• It was defined by (the European Regional Conference of 2002) as: "A society in which all persons, without discrimination of any kind, are able to exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to hold opinions without interference, and the freedom to seek, receive and issue information and opinions through any means of communication and across geographical borders."

From the previous definitions, it can be concluded that the knowledge society means: a society that allows its individuals the freedom to possess, transfer, broadcast and exchange information through various computers, information and space technologies, and to employ them to improve the standard of human life and serve it.

Characteristics of the knowledge society the characteristics and features of the knowledge society have varied according to the multiple opinions of researchers in this field.

Some of these characteristics are mentioned below:

• Availability of infrastructure, which is based on communications and information technology.

• Exchange of information with ease, so that it is available to all individuals. The ability to innovate, as the use of the mind contributes to the production and generation of knowledge.

• Availability of participation by broad audiences and individuals who produce knowledge, such as scientists, researchers, innovators, and others. Change towards e-learning instead of the prevailing stereotype in education.

• Continuous renewal of knowledge. Mastery of the information industry, its publication, distribution, exchange, and use, and so on.

• Reliance on electronic management systems, creative management, and knowledge management, as these methods are considered atypical in institutions.

• Increasing the number of trained and distinguished human resources, characterized by the ability to create and innovate. Availability of research and development centers, with their human and material capabilities.

Growth of the culture of self-learning and lifelong education. Developing the ability to make the most effective decisions. Focusing on mental work, through solving problems, developing opportunities for the individual, and other matters.

Dimensions of the knowledge society the knowledge society has several dimensions that can be summarized as follows:

• Technological dimension: Where technology is applied in all different areas of life.

• Economic dimension: Where knowledge is the cornerstone of rationalizing the economy, providing job opportunities, and added value. This means that the society that uses information in all its economic activities is the society that imposes itself and can compete.

• Political dimension: where all individuals have a role in making decisions in a rational manner based on the effective use of knowledge, and this is achieved by expanding the circle of freedom in exchanging information, and achieving the concepts of justice, democracy, equality, and effective political participation.

• Social dimension: where interest in increasing the level of awareness of the importance of knowledge and information technology in the daily life of the individual is an important matter, through interest in the rate of renewal, quantity, quality, speed of development, and other matters.

 Foundations for building a knowledge society

The Arab Human Development Report mentioned a set of foundations that are essential for building a knowledge society, which are:

• Establishing a general knowledge model that is open, enlightened, and authentic.

• Focusing on building self-capacity for research, technological development in all community activities, and localizing science.

• Focusing on freedoms of expression and opinion, and ensuring them, as they lead to the production of knowledge, which means creativity, development, technological innovation, and so on.

• Focusing on spreading advanced education in full, while ensuring lifelong education, giving priority to education in early childhood, and improving the quality of education at all levels, in addition to focusing on developing higher education, It is also necessary to generalize basic education so that it is available to all, with an increase in its period to ten grades as a minimum.

• Focusing on the transformation to knowledge production in an active manner in the economic and social environment, through diversification in markets, reliance on self-knowledge, technological capabilities, and the development of renewable resources.