Kennisland (Knowledgeland) does not look for an answer to the question what a knowledge society comprises. There are many answers to that, all partly coloured by people’s political persuasion. We would rather discover how to build the Dutch knowledge society, and make it smarter.
If one tries to make a society smarter, one should first choose the focus point. We usually work in a certain field for a couple of years, carrying out various interventions. As soon as we conclude that our goals are reached, or we feel we cannot contribute to the field anymore, we move on. As a result, Kennisland has addressed various areas over the years. Below you will find an overview of our fields of work.
Education
Innovation in education is high on the public agenda, but it has become a charged phrase with many sides. Solutions are often devised somewhere else, and then ‘shoved down people’s throats’. Usually, the problem is not the quality of the solutions, but the way in which innovations are implemented. Our approach is to create smart organisations which are able to enhance and modernise their own practice: change from the inside. For more information, please contact Chris Sigaloff (cs@kl.nl).
Government
A smart society cannot exist without a smart government. Following this principle, Kennisland has been working for years to develop interventions and stimulate the government to act more effectively and efficiently. Our focal point is not its policy, but the execution; this is where policies become visible. And this is also the place to start tackling the long-existing confidence issues between civilians and the government. This lack of confidence causes higher transaction costs and lower economic growth, as shown by Fukuyama in his book Trust (1995). The government could earn that trust, but hasn’t been very successful in doing so. First, it will have to take a good look at itself. For more information, please contact Chris Sigaloff (cs@kl.nl).
Creative economy
Creativity is growing into an important factor of our economy. Standardisation and production at the lowest possible costs used to be competitive advantages, but nowadays it is all about creativity. Business sectors revolving around creativity have been economical front runners for years, and the British have dubbed them the ‘creative industry’. In the field of the creative economy, Kennisland addresses the business community and the issues of entrepreneurs, as well as cities and regions and the issues of the government. We assist the creative industry to develop itself and join economic interaction. We support cities and regions in shaping conditions that will allow creativity and innovation to prosper. For more information, please contact Martijn Arnoldus (ma@kl.nl).
Heritage
For the past ten years, digitisation has been spurring powerful changes in the heritage sector. Museums, archives and other heritage institutions have started digitising their heritage collections and developing digital services. This process has changed the position of these institutes in society immensely, because now their digital sources are extending far beyond the actual location of the institute. Kennisland understands this sector’s large public value: a powerful knowledge society can only exist if everybody has access to information. By providing access to the heritage in an open and innovative way, people can obtain new knowledge. But this cannot be done without help. That is why Kennisland supports heritage institutions in overcoming obstacles. We realise breakthroughs through smart interventions concerning the actions and mindset of heritage institutions, and of the sector as a whole. For more information, please contact Paul Keller (pk@kl.nl).
Copyright
For Kennisland, it was a major discovery that copyright played such a pivotal role in the knowledge economy. The political scientists who established Kennisland in 1999 did not focus on the legal field of intellectual property. This changed when ‘Digital Pioneers’ was born. The Digital Pioneers projects pointed out what the possibilities and impossibilities of copyright are in building up, exchanging and distributing knowledge. Our participation in projects as Creative Commons, Images for the Future and Europeana has led us to conclude that copyright will remain a controversial topic in the coming years. But it will also remain crucial to reinforcing the knowledge society. In this discussion, Kennisland takes the perspective of users seeking access to knowledge and culture. For more information, please contact Martijn Arnoldus (ma@kl.nl) or Paul Keller (pk@kl.nl).
Culture
Culture creates both social and economic value. Recently however, the public support for subsidized culture is dramatically reduced. Result: a receding government, big spending cuts and a sharp change in culture policy. This is the end to the illusion that there is a simple and clear funding model for arts and culture. The arts and cultural sector faces the challenge of finding new ways to (financially) support arts and cultural organizations. What value can it create in our knowledge society? How can we translate that into new business and organizational models? Kennisland tries to help find answers to these questions. For more information, please contact Nikki Timmermans (nt@kl.nl).
