The Knowledge Society and Knowledge-based Economy in Arab Countries: A Model for Iran

The move towards a knowledge society and knowledge-based economy is not just fundamental necessity for developing countries like Iran but also preventing the progress of such societies can reduce their power for competitiveness. In accordance with the needs of these countrie's economic situation of moving from a traditional resource-based economy towards a knowledge-based economy, taking into account of the experience of different countries can help to reduces the likelihood of following the wrong direction. This paper has the aim of showing how the experience of developing countries, with an emphasis on Arab countrie's moves towards creating a knowledge society and economy, can provide a general framework for planning the progress of a Iranian society towards a knowledge society and knowledge-based economy to. b The results of this paper show that working on developing an infrastructure for transportation and information, expanding short-term education courses, trying to produce knowledge goods and services, aiming redefine products on the bases of knowledge and at the same time the creation of social, cultural and political foundations have all played an important role in the Arab countries towards building a knowledge society. This kind of way of seeing a knowledge society and knowledge-based economy could serve as a good model for Iran to follow.