“Knowledge” is needed in all sectors and on all levels in any society, however the content of knowledge for achieving “sustainable socio-economic developments” needs not necessarily to be of the same components, structure and organization. To bring about changes and developments in any society knowledge has to be “fresh” in the sense that it has to be up-dated or “refreshed” not only to mitigate historical imparities but also to meet emerging necessities and to have capabilities and instruments to deal with any future known or unknown challenges. Knowledge has, also, to be individually adapted to maximize engagement and integration of all citizens and stakeholders for the benefits and welfare of the society.
In our ICT-based “Information Communication Technology” societies there are huge capital and diversity of knowledge resources, though needs of more knowledge still remain to be among essential priorities. Problems and difficulties in many societies for bringing about changes, especially what regards sustainable developments, are not a priori related to availability and accessibility of knowledge but rather the management of knowledge in terms of structure, transfer and adaption on both vertical and horizontal levels. In this context, instruments for appropriate coupling of science and technology to society and market needs is an imperative part of structuring, transferring and adapting knowledge. This is the essence core of successful knowledge-management policies where the coupling goes through citizens and stakeholders, i.e. within and between the very building blocks in the society, i.e. “individuals” and “groups”, in all society levels and sectors.
Services, i.e. serve and get served, production and consumption have to be shaped and based on sound economic policies involving all basic sustainability requirements, i.e. the conservation and protection of natural resources. If all natural resources are consumed, wasted and/or degraded, then it wouldn’t be possible to have life any more. In a knowledge-based society difficulties don’t exist in how knowledge can be obtained and how “citizens”, as carriers, transformers and generators of knowledge, can be engaged to form and shape “consumption”, “production” and “services” for the benefit of their society. The optimum functioning of any society is therefore a balance of these components: why knowledge is needed; what and when knowledge is required; how can knowledge can be produced, transferred, disseminated and propagated.
A major part of the capital knowledge of humans is stored in “virtual memories” around the world. However, such knowledge is accessible but not necessarily affordable for everyone. The Internet provides knowledge with variable quality and in a very scattered and random way though search engines may provide certain limited structuring. Traditional sources of knowledge through libraries are still important sources to “on-line” publishing with excellent audio-visual illustrations and “open-access” versions. In social and human sciences, for example, morals and ethics can be biased by historical misconceptions with negative impacts on freedom of speech as expressed by the public on the Internet. Quality of knowledge is, therefore, essential not only for sustainable socio-economic development but also for lasting security, safety and political stability.
Issues and topics of relevance for achieving socio-economic developments around the world are being discussed and detalied in http://sustain-earth.com