POMED Notes: Awakening Arab Innovation

On Wednesday, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace hosted a panel on encouraging Arab innovation across the Middle Eastand North Africa (MENA).  As political freedoms continue to grow, can that innovation translate into economic growth and a true knowledge economy? The speakers were Inger Anderson, vice president of Middle East and North Africa for the World Bank and Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut. The panel was moderated by Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

For full event notes, continue reading below. Or, click here for the PDF

Muasher opened the panel discussion by stating the fundamental issues that need to occur across MENA.   Governments who accept these changes will have lasting success. Some of fundamentals of change involve governments that strive to build trust through transparency, and foster innovations to deal with the major obstacle of creating a projected 40 million needed jobs over the upcoming years.

Andersonbelieves the MENA region holds the brain power needed to complete the transition, but in doing so it needs to develop the private sector and end “crony capitalism.” In an area that has 25 percent of the work force in the public sector (Indonesiahas only10 percent) the private sector remains underdeveloped. Therefore, the youth need inspiration to seek jobs in business and the private sector, opposed to jobs in government. To infuse the private sector workforce with motivated entrepreneurs startups need to be facilitated instead of hindered. A focus should be placed on education, and links should be developed with the diaspora in other nations throughout the world to incorporate their successes.

Khouri’s solution to get beyond the “inability of every major actor within MENA,” such as governmental and educational systems to name a few, was to examine society using a multitude of checkpoints. By studying the youth, reviewing the political systems and power structures, focusing on culture and religion, engaging civil society within the public and private sectors, and encouraging global engagement, the MENA region will be able to sustain lasting change. Khouri felt one of the most significant factors involved are the youth, as they are “the best barometer of Arab society.” Since the youth represent the same thoughts as the older generation, and are more open to express their views – being less hesitant of authority – it is possible to gauge the state of society by taking the pulse of the youth. For changes to be lasting in MENA, Khouri feels any measures taken need the support of the youth. Khouri proposed that when a project is undertaken, the impact statement should include a “youth inclusion,” with some of the gauges being: having the youth explain the nature of their grievances, articulate their aspirations, and receive opinions for future propositions.

Muasher closed with conveying the desire to teach people the rights of citizenship. Muasher wants to change how people are instructed, “teaching them how to think, not what to think,” and believes, while expressing a “narrow point of view,” the secular and religious leaders are not interested in changing their methods of instruction.

During the question and answer section, Khouri responded that the use of social media throughout the different revolutions did not find itself in a “vacuum.” “Face to face” interactions, such as on the street, or in the mosque, were more significant – as digital media is still mostly used for entertainment purposes. It was when there was a direct response to a political challenge that digital media was harnessed.Andersonadded that social media allowed circles of people to exchange their experiences and felt the use of social media during the revolutions improved the way in which protestors organized a forum, on how to more efficiently project their message to Western media, and provided a means to get information out of the countries.Andersonre-addressed ways to improve the educational systems as a system to bring innovation to MENA. By making education everyone’s business, a broad dialogue should occur which strives to make educational institutions better. Anderson stated that determined efforts need to be put forth to fix institutions, all the while improving the infrastructure.