Seeding the Development of Knowledge Based Industries in Palestine

The problem of youth unemployment is currently recognized by most academics and researchers in the disciplines of economics, sociology and development as one of the most pressing challenges facing both developing and developed countries. While developed countries have the resources and instruments to deal with this challenge, poorer countries require highly effective developmental interventions that take into consideration the different aspects of youth unemployment in the country concerned.

Youth unemployment is a serious concern in most countries in the region. In Palestine, the situation is further exacerbated by the ongoing conflict which is placing a considerable stress on the Palestinian economy. Since the start of the 2nd Intifada unemployment rates have risen, in certain cases, to more than 50% and income has dropped by 30% of its pre-2000 levels. This situation is encouraging more young people to seek employment outside the Palestinian territories which is creating a brain drain of the most qualified resources. The social and political consequences of this recession have been enormous in numbers and size and have adversely affected the internal stability of the Palestinian society. In order to combat these effects, development interventions should be focused around treating their economic causes.

“Seeding the Development of Knowledge Based Industries In Palestine” is an experimental research project that aims at designing, developing, piloting and testing a model for the “development of knowledge based industries (KBIs) and its possible value added to the Palestinian context”. This research project starts with the identification of eight potential areas of certain KBIs. Throughout the project, eight training programs will be designed, developed and delivered targeting at least 160 Palestinian youths in the eight areas of KBIs identified during the first stage. The training programs might equip Palestinian youth with the knowledge and skills to enter into the job market, and thus reduce unemployment amongst this group. The research team will also conduct some research and networking activities in the relevant job market in order to connect the target group with certain institutions “clients” and facilitate the cooperation between the target group and the clients. The job market being proposed by this project is primarily oriented towards the regional marketplace. KBIs open the borders of the labour market and focus on jobs that can be performed remotely. This approach goes along with the emerging trends in the labour market where globalization of information technology and IT-enabled services is leading to the globalization of labour markets.

The results of this research, the lessons learned and its recommendations might pave the road towards scaling this model in Palestine and in the region across different disciplines.