Developed nations, and developing nations, are in the midst of transforming their economies from industrial economies to knowledge economies. These transitions result in economies where knowledge (in all its forms: human capital, technology, innovation, and even value networks) are the central and critical sources of competitive advantages. Knowledge becomes that which is centrally traded and exchanged, created and communicated, leveraged and transformed. Worldwide continued interest in the field of knowledge management is testament to the realization that there is a need for critical thinking on how to advance our knowledge about managing, living, and thriving in these new economies. Advancing Knowledge and the Knowledge Economy pulls together a collection of cutting-edge thinking on critical issues related to thriving in knowledge economies. Topics covered include measuring knowledge, knowledge communities, the changing role of institutions in knowledge economies, the role of place in knowledge economies, new models of innovation, control, and cooperation, and emerging cyber infrastructures. This book grew out of support for conferences by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the Digital Society and Technology Program and the Digital Government Program of the National Scientific Foundation. The book has seven sections and 25 chapters, which I only briefly review here.
Three chapters set the stage for the book's motivation, the key themes covered, and the OECD's work on transforming economies to knowledge economies. Brian Kahin opens the book with a discussion of the prospects for a knowledge policy. Kahin's main argument is that while there is a real need for knowledge policy, the transformational effects of knowledge economies are too new to understand their individual or broad societal impacts. Discussions of knowledge policy thus remain balkanized and isolated. Knowledge policy discussions continue to remain fragmented across academic disciplines, and there is a real need to take a holistic perspective at the issue of knowledge policy. Kahin outlines several arguments for a holistic perspective, such as the improved patterns of knowledge dissemination across geographical and national boundaries, advances in cyber infrastructure, the blurring of boundaries between what is open (or public) versus controlled/ closed (or private) knowledge, and the developments in knowledge markets and instruments to trade knowledge. Dominique Foray, the co-editor of the book, lays out in the second chapter the major themes covered by contributors of the book. He addresses the deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as knowledge instruments. This is followed by a discussion of the peculiarities of institutions that create and transmit knowledge. Issues such as the patent system, the role of incentives for inventors, knowledge spillovers, trust-building mechanisms, division of labor, and the role of universities are addressed here. Other themes are the co-evolution of technologies and institutions, knowledge division and dispersion, saliency of public knowledge, and open and distributed systems of knowledge. Foray ends the chapter with a call for the development of an evidencebased knowledge policy. ΓsgeirsdΓ³ttir, Deputy Secretary General of