Indigenous knowledge for development: Bringing research and practice together

Information and knowledge are an increasingly important part of trade in today's knowledge society. The concept of access to this information and knowledge is at the heart of such a society. Basically, this access depends on two types of factors, technological and cultural. The technological factors determine the physical requirements for disseminating information including communications, transportation, printing, and the technology of organizing information. The cultural factors determine to what extent the people who possess the knowledge are willing to share it and place it in social domain. (Adapted from Mokyr, J. (2002). The Knowledge society: Theoretical and historical underpinnings. Retrieved May 22, 2005, from http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan011602.pdf).To make effective use of information/knowledge, it has to be shared and distributed, and its transmission through learning is essential. The world vision of a truly global knowledge partnership becomes possible only when the people of the developing countries participate as both contributors and users of knowledge. There is, therefore, a need not only to bring global knowledge to the developing countries, but also to learn about indigenous knowledge (IK) from these countries, paying particular attention to the knowledge base of the poor.