Our society is undergoing a dramatic transition from the industrial and information age towards a new era of brainpower industries, associated with upheavals in the structure of the global economy and accompanied by far-reaching demographic shifts and the transformation of social systems.
At the same time our economy is increasingly transforming into an ‘intangible’ economy which is described as a ‘knowledge based economy’.
At the time this manifesto was initially issued, the indicators of this development are:
- The new relation between material (e.g. manufacturing) and nonmaterial (e.g. services) resources;
- The sharing of commonly available knowledge such as open source information;
- The insight that global competition can lead to rapid relocation of economic activities such as software, media creativity, healthcare and ‘mind-intensive’ industries;
- The radical change in work structure, causing many people to continuously change profession and type of employment throughout their working life, heightening the importance lifelong learning and flexibility;
- The increasing ‘knowledge divide’, both within societies, as well as between nations on a global scale.
In public we address decision-makers, specifically in politics, and challenge them to accept the new knowledge paradigm and to engage in developing new strategies which go far beyond the repetition of ‘old recipes’ to ‘make the future’. In the new understanding of the knowledge society and economy, they will engage in a development driven by imagination, creativity and courage towards better intellectual, cultural and social conditions, and towards a sustainable, dynamic economy.
In practice we support all movements and projects towards better education (and educational systems), more vibrant innovation (and innovation systems) and better understanding of the emerging knowledge society and economy. We appeal for higher investments in brains rather than bricks, thereby avoiding the misallocations of resources.
Download the full version of The Manifesto of ‘The New Club of Paris’ on the knowledge society and its economic foundations, which has been decided by the General Assembly of ‘The New Club of Paris’ on June 28th, 2006.
Statute (PDF)