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Africa is on the move, demonstrating in recent years a significant potential for economic growth. Although the region still faces many challenges, it is also generating pockets of economic vitality in the form of enterprise clusters that are contributing to national, regional, and local productivity. Through case examples from Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, this book provides an understanding of how these dynamic enterprise clusters were formed and have evolved, and how knowledge, human capital, and technology have contributed to their success.

The 1997 Bank reforms that introduced the matrix management concept aimed to adapt the organization to changing circumstances and address concerns among external stakeholders about the role of aid in development. The reforms were motivated largely by widespread recognition that the Bank's development programs were excessively driven by a culture of lending, with insufficient attention to client needs and the quality of results, which are crucial to development effectiveness. A previous round of reforms in 1987 had strengthened the country focus, but quality remained a concern. Furthermore, access of developing countries to development finance from the private sector had increased significantly, leading to a decreasing share of official development aid, including Bank financing, in total flows to developing countries. This trend has continued after slight interruption by the Asian financial crisis. In 1987, World Bank lending represented 15 percent of all external financing for developing countries. By 2002 Bank lending had declined to 4 percent of external financing (organizational effectiveness task force: final report, 2005). Changes in the external environment indicate that the matrix system is even more relevant today than when it was introduced. Client needs have diversified, with greater differentiation among countries, even within the regions; the growth of global public goods and corporate priorities is creating tensions and has given rise to new challenges which need to be reconciled with the country model; demand for cutting-edge knowledge is growing, both to enhance quality of lending and as a business line for policy and program advice to clients; and new global practices have emerged to meet needs such as information, communication and technology, and disaster management. The Bank's ability to renew itself and function as a truly global Bank is critical to its success.

In many parts of the world, knowledge is being put to work to accelerate and deepen the development process, promoting innovation and helping to generate wealth and jobs. This book discusses advanced development strategies that take into account education, information and communication technology, infrastructure, innovation, and the prerequisite economic and institutional regimes.

Korea's development process offers valuable lessons for other developing and less developed economies.In particular, the way Korea uses outside technologies, by accumulating indigenous capabilities, is still valid in the era of the knowledge economy.

The UN Millennium Development Goals call for not only greater financial commitment in international assistance programs but also innovative strategies to tackle the serious economic, health, education, and other basic human rights problems in the developing world. This paper is organized as follows: Chapter 2 is an overview of key theoretical models of development communication. Chapter 3 describes the characteristic patterns of recent empirical studies in development communication in terms of theoretical models and types of communication strategies. Chapter 4 presents some outstanding evidence of the impacts of communication on development initiatives. Chapter 5 discusses weak spots in the evidence. The concluding chapter will make suggestions for further research by drawing attention to the theoretical, methodological and empirical gaps in the existing academic research in development communication.

Unlock Mexico's Economic Potential in the Knowledge Era. This insightful study examines Mexico's journey toward a knowledge-based economy, revealing both challenges and opportunities for sustainable growth. Authored by experts Yevgeny Kuznetsov and Carl Dahlman, this volume provides strategies for enhancing Mexico's competitiveness through innovation, education reform, and strategic investment in ICT infrastructure. Discover how Mexico can leverage its regional diversity and existing strengths to transform its economy and improve the lives of its citizens. * Understand the key sources of growth in the global knowledge economy * Identify challenges and opportunities for Mexico's economic transformation * Explore strategies for enhancing competitiveness through innovation and education * Learn how to promote regional development and overcome institutional rigidities For policymakers, economists, business leaders, and academics interested in Mexico's economic future.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been facing considerable economic challenges. Left behind by the industrial revolution, overly dependent on oil resources, and on the fringes of the globalization process, a number of MENA countries have embarked on structural reforms to overcome economic stagnation, mounting unemployment, and increasing poverty. At the same time, there is growing awareness worldwide that the knowledge revolution offers new opportunities for growth resulting from the availability of information and communication technologies and from the advent of a new form of global economic development rooted in the concept of the knowledge economy, which is based on the creation, acquisition, distribution, and use of knowledge. This book, developed from papers prepared for a World Bank sponsored conference, assesses the challenges confronting the region’s countries and analyzes their readiness for the knowledge economy based on a set of indicators. It provides quantitative analysis to help benchmark the countries against worldwide knowledge economy trends, identifies key implementation issues, and presents relevant policy experiences. The basic policy elements that underpin a strategy to prepare for a knowledge-based economy are discussed, including: the renovation of education systems, the creation of a climate conducive to innovation, and the development of an efficient Telecommunications as the foundation of a new era. The formulation of national visions and strategies is also discussed. Examples from the region and other parts of the world illustrate the chapters. A set of data that makes it possible to benchmark and position countries’ readiness for the knowledge economy is presented in an appendix.

There are more poor people and poverty reaches further into middle-income countries around the world than ever before. Adequate governmental capacity development is considered one of the critical missing factors in current efforts to reduce poverty and, by doing so, to meet the millennium development goals. If the development of sustainable capacity is not given greater attention in the near future, development efforts in the poorest countries are expected to fail even if they are supported with substantially increased funding. One effective way to improve the quality of democratic governments is by their learning from the past and from each other's experiences. But to what extent are governments capable of and/or willing to learn? And if they are, what are they supposed to learn-and how? Is the way they learn different from the way individuals or organizations learn? Under what conditions do they learn best, and to what extent can learning events enhance their capacities to improve the performance of their public sectors? These and many related questions are examined in the black box of governmental learning.

Introduçao: Na era do conhecimento, o rápido progresso tecnológico, especialmente no campo das tecnologías de informaçâo e comunicaçâo, é visto como o principal aliado para responder as crescentes crises ambientais e socioeconómicas urbanas. Nesse contexto, as cidades inteligentes e sustentáveis säo aquelas que empregam tecnologia e inovaçâo para melhorar a qualidade de vida de seus cidadäos e a eficiencia dos serviços, buscando o desenvolvimento urbano sustentável. Na prática, entretanto, diversos desafios se impöem âs cidades que buscam tornar-se inteligentes e sustentáveis. Para agregar as dimensöes de inteligencia e sustentabilidade, as cidades precisam de soluçöes desenhadas localmente e planejamento urbano estratégico integrado e equilibrado. Um modelo estratégico aderente a esses requisitos é o Desenvolvimento Urbano Baseado no Conhecimento (DUBC), que articula quatro dominios de desenvolvimento baseado no conhecimento (económico, social, espacial e institucional) para um processo de transformaçâo urbana de longo prazo, no contexto da nova economia do conhecimento e da competitividade global. Metodologia: Por meio de revisâo de literatura, este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar e discutir os principais aspectos conceituais e de aplicaçâo do DUBC como uma abordagem estratégica para a promoçâo de cidades inteligentes e sustentáveis. Resultados e discussäo: Os resultados indicam que o DUBC pode contribuir ao oferecer uma abordagem multidimensional e integrada para o planejamento urbano estratégico que incluí a implementaçâo de tecnologias urbanas, desenvolvidas por processos endógenos de inovaçâo e voltadas a um desenvolvimento urbano verdadeiramente inteligente e sustentável.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the project challenges, human factors and knowledge development that influence the nature of employee engagement in a project team within a global project-based organisation. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design used semi-structured interviews, and observations in team meetings and the work environment to identify characteristics in the work environment which influenced employee engagement. Findings Workplace characteristics that influence employee engagement relate to the project challenges, the problem-solving nature of work, and achieving specified outcomes within time allocations. Human factors including the manager’s behaviours with feedback and recognition of effort, mentoring, and encouraging collaboration are important in team environment. The potential for learning and knowledge development from the project and with the team positively influence engagement. Research limitations/implications This study examines the characteristics of an established project team of 13 consultant engineers from eight nationalities, and forms a basis for future comparison with other project teams with different job types and demographic profiles. Practical implications This study contributes to project management (PM) research by broadening the focus from human factors influencing employee engagement to project challenges and knowledge development, with implications for managers in project-based organisations in terms of job design, development of team climate, team processes and their own behaviours. Originality/value This study contributes to human factors in PM literature through exploratory research into the antecedents of employee engagement.