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Scan Globally, Reinvent Locally Knowledge Infrastructure and the Localization of Knowledge. Keynote Address: First GDN Conference December 1999, Bonn Joseph Stiglitz Chief Economist, The World Bank. Importance of GDN. End of colonialism and of Cold War
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Scan Globally, Reinvent LocallyKnowledge Infrastructure and the Localization of Knowledge Keynote Address: First GDN Conference December 1999, Bonn Joseph Stiglitz Chief Economist, The World Bank
Importance of GDN • End of colonialism and of Cold War • Need to prevent new intell. colonialism • Example of trying to impose open cap. accts. • Need to have “country in driver’s seat” • Key role of GDN to insure that outcome. • Long-term power of ideas: e.g. transparency • Core standards for democratic debate to promote global consensus-building.
Knowledge Infrastructure & the GDN • Global public goods: disembodied knowledge. • Power of Internet & the GDN. • Human embodiments of knowledge more like private goods. • Rethinking the Knowledge Bank as operating with the research & policy institutes of GDN.
Three Main Theses • Localization of knowledge required by complexity & variety of societies. • Practical know-how is tacit knowledge transferred by horizontal methods. • Societies through knowledge institutes take driver’s seat in local learning process.
General-Local Dimension of K • “Drive on the left” not best practice in London. • “Every alleged example of local implementation of central policy, if it results in significant social transformation, is in fact a process of local social discovery.” [Donald Schön] • Job of GDN institutes = preparing “best practices” for local transplanting. • Knowledge Bank scans globally; GDN institutes reinvent locally.
Codified-Tacit Dimension of K • Codified K is spoken, written, & downloaded. • Tacit K: ride a bike, know a face, speak native language grammatically. • Tacit K transferred by horizontal methods: apprenticeships, secondments, twinning. • Central Role in identifying who has know-how, matching w/clients, and certifying quality.
Active Social Learning • Negative effects of passive learning • “Default theory”: Standardized best practices imposed by aid and conditionalities. • Impairs self-confidence and sense of self-efficacy in country. • Active social learning = Country in driver’s seat
Social Learning and Democracy • “If you teach a man anything he will never learn it” [G.B. Shaw] • Learning how to learn. • Shortcomings of technocratic dev. models. • Consensus-building = “democracy-friendly” dialogue. Role of GDN institutes. • Ownership comes from active involvement. • Ownership necessary for successful development transformation.