[17 March 2008]
SMU hosts Singapore's first Knowledge Governance conference

Addressing the theme of ‘Knowledge Architectures for Development: Challenges Ahead for Business and Governance', the conference will examine how knowledge governance and knowledge-based economies (KBE) can be applied to the needs of business, public sector organisations and civil society in both developing countries and emerging markets in Asia.

Singapore, 17 March 2008 (Monday) – Knowledge governance scholars, development practitioners, business management gurus, and researchers in NGOs and civil societies from around the world will congregate at the Singapore Management University (SMU) for a two-day conference titled “Knowledge Architectures for Development: Challenges Ahead for Business and Governance” held on 24 and 25 March 2008 (Monday and Tuesday). The international symposium, a first in Singapore on knowledge governance, is hosted and organised by the Lee Kong Chian School of Business at SMU and the Wee Kim Wee Centre at SMU. Refer to Annex for programme of conference.

The conference is aimed at building an intellectual framework for understanding the increasing role of knowledge for Asian businesses and societies. Speakers will champion a key thesis that access to knowledge as an essential development factor, the creation of knowledge hubs and clusters, as well as the localisation of global knowledge are prerequisites for using knowledge as an engine for growth. The conference will generate greater public awareness of the various knowledge traps in Asia such as the widening information and knowledge gap, problems in managing the corresponding unknowns of knowledge (leading to bad investment decisions and stagnation), and difficulties in accessing global knowledge for local needs. A core question which will be discussed during the conference is what can be done by leaders in business, society and politics to strengthen economic and social structures with the aim of creating more successful knowledge-based societies.

Conference sessions will include discussions on ‘Development through Knowledge Hubs and Clusters', ‘Theory and Practice of Knowledge Governance', ‘Knowledge for Poverty Alleviation' and ‘Global Production Networks, Knowledge Transfer and SME Upgrading'. Participants can expect rigorous discourse on the following:

? How do Asian businesses cope with and contribute to the increasingly knowledge-centric development of Asia?

? Which role do governments and the state play in knowledge governance, technology and innovation management as well as institutional arrangements so as to leverage on global knowledge flows and to ensure sustainable development?

? What happens in diverse, multi-cultural knowledge contexts when members of different cultural groups interact and collaborate to create new knowledge, innovative products and services?

? What are the strengths and weaknesses of Asia 's network capitalism in the new global market place and emerging knowledge economy with its greater emphasis on cross-border knowledge flows, ideas, intellectual capital resources, information and communications technology (ICT) and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection?

? How effective are present knowledge governance systems and public policy in Asia in terms of managing knowledge traps and ensuring development progress?

? Who are the Asian role models who have succeeded in building up sustainable knowledge architectures and what can Asian societies learn from each other?

The following two keynote speakers will join more than 20 distinguished experts from Singapore, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Germany, the United Kingdom and USA participating in the conference:

? Dr Hans-Dieter Evers
Professor and Senior Research Fellow
Center for Development Research (ZEF)
University of Bonn
- Dr Evers is currently engaged in research on social and cultural dimensions of knowledge-based economies and knowledge governance.

? Dr Derek Chen (Ph.D.)
Economist
Knowledge for Development Program
World Bank Institute
- Dr Chen's fields of specialisation include economic growth, poverty analysis and demographic economics.

Said Conference Co-Chair, Practice Associate Professor of Organisational Behavior Thomas Menkhoff who is a knowledge management expert at SMU: “The Knowledge Architectures for Development Conference will be a pivotal event, going beyond mere business-oriented discourse and conceptual discussions about the effective management of knowledge at the company level. It will deepen our understanding of what it takes to develop Asia's emerging knowledge-based economies in a sustainable manner and help us set the agenda for future business and knowledge policy studies. Singapore certainly has a lot to offer in terms of policy lessons to developing countries based on its successful knowledge economy experience.”

The opening of the ‘Knowledge Architectures for Development: Challenges Ahead for Business and Governance' Conference will take place on 24 March 2008 (Monday), 10 am at the Li Ka Shing Library (Level 5) of SMU. It is open to the public at no cost. More information on the conference programme can be accessed here: http://www.research.smu.edu.sg/irc/2008/index.asp.