Propelling Sri Lanka as a knowledge hub



20 June 2014 05:55 am Views - 2999

A knowledge hub is a location where you can source skills and capabilities for the creation of products, services, knowledge and also for the creation of wealth. Some countries have targeted industries so that the country and the economy will be known for a particular industry. For instance:

•     Singapore - Financial services
•     Dubai - Tourism
•     Ireland and China - Manufacturing
•     India - Knowledge processing
•     Switzerland - Pharmaceutical

Therefore, the above examples reveal that when a country targets an industry, investments may flow into the country to nurture and grow that industry.
Creating a knowledge hub or
becoming a knowledge hub would require the following building-blocks:

•     A focus on that knowledge (E.g.: R&D in a particular industry sector.)
•     A pool of experts and thought leaders. Especially, experts in a particular area (E.g.: Management or leadership for a region.)

Generally, investment dollars flow to economies where there is growth, so that the country will grow and the investment will have a return

For example, Singapore’s vision is to become a human capital knowledge hub building a centre (Human Capital Institute) and also publishing books to create and sell knowledge.

Singapore is striving to be recognized as the knowledge hub for Southeast Asia. The government and the private sector would however need to provide financial support, provide the cases and experiences and academia (and/or consulting) and provide ideas. This combination of players would enable new ideas to be generated and distributed.

Therefore, Sri Lanka needs to have an aspirational goal - for example, ‘Sri Lanka the centre for what?’
Sri Lanka could work towards becoming the centre for ‘transaction processing’ considering the large pool of world-class accountants the country has and is turning out annually.

Strategy



However, to create a strong knowledge hub the country needs to build its strategy and investments around skills and capabilities that the markets/investors require.

Therefore, our higher education needs to be more effective and focused on targeted industries. Higher education success is often tied to investments in both physical facilities (campus, technology, infrastructure) and faculty resources. In many ways physical education investments are easier, requiring money and space.  

Acquiring faculty resources becomes more difficult but higher qualified faculty are key to higher qualified students. Increasing faculty quality may come from alliances with top universities in other countries and/or from sponsoring faculty to gain credibility and reputation through research.   

Infrastructure

Infrastructure (universities, the VTCs, facilities, networks, research labs, housing, social infrastructure, etc.) and creating the right policy framework to attract knowledge hunters and creators
manufacturers and developers are important.

Generally, investment dollars flow to economies where there is growth, so that the country will grow and the investment will have a return. This means that emerging economies would get foreign investment to put together the infrastructure. Moreover, most of the investment goes to infrastructure since these are the pathways of economic growth.



Key factor

Finally, the biggest challenge would be to get all agencies and the private sector to work towards a common goal i.e. to create the skills and capabilities that the hubs demand.

To do that however we would need to have one powerful body/person with a clear mind to take control of education from primary to higher education and then ensure the entire system works together.

The current urban development effort is a case in point. Singapore did this very well in the 80s and continues to reinvent its policies to attract over 40,000 skilled people annually.

(Dinesh Weerakkody is a thought leader in HR)