Knowledge Workforce

Abstract

This chapter focuses on knowledge workers—who they are and what they do, and the impact they have on organisations and communities in the Network Society. As technology-savvy individuals, they have the training to understand and apply telecommunications and electronic media at work, at home and in the community. Because of their ICT skills and potential contributions to innovation and productivity, knowledge workers constitute a critical labour market for networked communities. Training and education institutions can play an important role in ensuring the local supply of ICT skills. To illustrate these points, four networked communities are described: • Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. This suburb of Paris has transformed itself into a preferred location for knowledge workers to live and work; • Mitaka, Japan. Mitaka is a suburb of Tokyo offering exceptional quality of life to its knowledge workers; • Taipei, Taiwan. This is a large city with a CyberCity Plan and an impressive labour force; • Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. This university town has developed an international reputation based on public-private collaboration and entrepreneurship. The chapter ends with suggestions for the measurement and evaluation of a community’s knowledge workforce.