20 June 2005

"Knowledge or Learning" Economy

The Jenius asked Open Source Minds (OSM) colleagues what was intended to be a simple question: Does the phrase "Learning Economy" have more power than "Knowledge Economy"?

The purpose of the question, in The Jenius' mind, was to seek a more penetrating phrase to "sell" the concepts We need to reorient Puerto Rico's economy. Kevin Shockey has pointed out that "knowledge economy" has become too "common" and Ramón Barquín III has also added that the Governor has "appropriated" the phrase without seeming to know what it might mean.

However, ask bright people for a simple answer and you get more questions, ones you actually need to consider before moving on. Here are some examples:

Iván Merced: "...saying knowledge economy means economy powered by
the use of knowledge... learning economy sounds like economy in a
learning process..."

Gilberto Faisca: "...KE is based on managing knowledge, as an archive, knowing how to use it to our convenience. I understand that LE is fast learning, adopting more efficient methods as they appear, discarding what's obsolete. I believe that LE is a more modern form, an evolution, of KE."

Roberto Filomeno: "The two of them have the same power depending on the moment and the connotation of where and how it is used."

Francisco Santana: "It seems to me that 'learning' implies 'lack of mastery' about something. In the other case (KE) the impression is that of a 'solid base' of previously-acquired knowledge (experience, for example?)"

William Cabán and colleague: "1) Learning Economy: (me): an economy that depends on the mutation of itself based on new knowledge, meaning, the adaptation of its business to the new acquired knowledge. A continuous adaptation of the economy of this society will be driven by the new acquired knowledge.

(my friend): an economy based and targeted to the education of its components.

2) Knowledge Economy:(me): an economy that depends on the knowledge of its human resources. The quality and quantity of the knowledge in those human resources will define how valuable or not that economy is. Research and development is an intrinsic part of this economy.

(my friend): an economy driven by research and development."

What strikes The Jenius here is the breadth of the answers, even without William's second response, to be covered in tomorrow's post. Remember these are brief responses to a question fired off as an almost-random thought, one that was expected to generate a mere "Yes/No" response.

Why mention it, then? Because it is a clear example of what happens when bright minds come together: the overall vision is significantly broadened. What We need is exactly that: a broader vision.

The Jenius Has Spoken.

1 comment:

KW said...

Pero Profe, I didn't know this was for credit.

But you know Gil, that sometimes, depending on your intended desired result, broadening can be bad. A man can lay on a bed of nails and then someone can drive a car over his stomach. If the weight is broadly distributed, he survives. If you take just one of those nails and jam it into his chest, he's not going to be nearly as happy with the result. It just depends on what your desired result might be.

My inititial reaction was that neither was powerful. I believe that we need a vision so sharp, so simple that there is no way to avoid the point. I humbly submit a few alternatives:

- Innovation Economy
- Globalized Economy
- Survival Economy
- Collaborative Economy
- Participatory Economy
- Zoom Economy

Or perhaps to contrast things with an negative approach (what we have now is a):

- Broken Economy
- Deadmeat Economy
- What's in it for me Economy
- It's all about me Economy
- Country Club Economy
- Doomed Economy
- No hope Economy
- Holy than though Economy
- Image Economy
- Instant Gratification Economy.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Oh wait, I thought of one lassst one: The Being left behind Economy.