Transitioning Towards a Knowledge Society ― Qatar As a Case Study

The book offers a critical evaluation of Qatar’s path from oil- and gas-based industries to a knowledge-based economy. This book gives basic information about the region and the country, including the geographic and demographic data, the culture, the politics and the economy, the health care conditions and the education system. It introduces the concepts of knowledge society and knowledge-based development and adds factual details about Qatar by interpreting indicators of the development status. Subsequently, the research methods that underlie the study are described, which offers information on the eGovernment study analyzing the government-citizen relationship, higher education institutions and systems, its students and the students’ way into the labor market. This book has an audience with economists, sociologists, political scientists, geographers, information scientists and other researchers on the knowledge society, but also all researchers and practitioners interested in the Arab Oil States and their future.

Wolfgang G. Stock is full professor and head of the Information Science Dept. of Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Germany. His research areas include studies on smart cities, social network services and information behavior. He is author of about 300 articles and books, thereof about 30 are on prototypical cities of the emerging knowledge society.

Kaja J. Fietkiewicz is research associate at Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf. She is working on Social Media and on Smart Cities, especially in Japan.

Julia Barth and Julia Gremm have been assistant lecturers for Smart City Research at Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf. They conducted field researches on cities in the Gulf Region (especially, in Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E. and Oman) and published articles on the “Arabian Way” into knowledge society.