The Final Statement Issued by the Documentation and Electronic Archiving Third Forum Held in Dubai, during the period 17-19 September 2005 under the title the Management and Investment of Knowledge to Support Decision Making

Taking the knowledge culture does not happen only with importing its techniques without national creation, social, cultural, and political convenient atmosphere that support investment in knowledge, confirm Scientific thinking bases and traditions thereof, and encourage the spirit of production and creation that goes along the fast development in information and communication technologies to produce, spread, exchange, and develop knowledge and the applications thereof.

• Whereas the knowledge that depends on delicate and authenticated information is the cornerstone of the human development that is considered to be one of the most essential elements for going developmental abilities up and drawing policies, continuing and correcting thereof all over the world, and according to what scientific meetings play of distinguished chances to share and exchange knowledge, ideas, and experiences.

• The participants of the Documentation and Electronic Archiving Third Forum would thank Dubai Municipality and UN developmental Program UNDP for their initiative to organize this important forum and praise their efforts exerted for organizing this forum and its well-done setting.

• Also, the participants see the importance of continuing the constructive efforts which Dubai Municipality has provided in order to support and encourage efforts and scientific meetings aiming at producing, spreading, exchanging, and developing knowledge and applications thereof on local, regional and international levels.

• The Forum has discussed many important points, especially:

  • Information and Knowledge Management

  • Electronic Archiving and Documentation

  • Libraries and Information

  • Statistics and Information

  • Geographic Information Systems

All the abovementioned points are linked and complicated and have important applications in the fields of management and investment of knowledge to support decision making.

• By realizing success achieved by Dubai Municipality in grasping, developing, and applying many possibilities and elements of infrastructure of informational and digital wealth whereas it represents a success story able to provide many useable lessons and following them as a practice of the best applicable experiments in the areas of Information and Knowledge Management on both two international and regional levels.

• And starting from the Arab human development report 2003 which has considered that the knowledge lack represents one of essential challenges that are facing the Third World Countries especially Arab Countries.
  The participants have recommended at the end of the Forum the following recommendations:

First:
Dubai Municipality call to form an international work group consisting of the representatives of parties, organizations, and experts on relevant local, regional and international levels to study arrangements required to invest the financial and technical possibilities that are available in Dubai Emirate to be a distinguished and pioneer centre on the international level in the area of Knowledge and Information Management and various applications thereof.
One of the international work group tasks is to identify the visions and purposes required to be achieved on the condition that these visions have to include the increasing of providing going up chances of human skills, specialized scientific and technical activities, and providing atmospheres of producing, spreading, exchanging, and developing knowledge including its reaching to the aimed categories and achieving opportunities of development and urbanism.

Second:
Dubai Municipality call to invent mechanism in order to facilitate, continue, and execute recommendations issued by the Forum and international work group proposed to be formed.

Third:
Call to convene such Forums periodically and encourage all these calls, practices and applications, provided that Dubai Municipality has to cooperate with international work group proposed to be formed by choosing points and subjects of future scientific Forums and meetings to help to encourage and enhance the abilities in the area of producing, spreading, exchanging, and developing knowledge corresponding to Dubai Municipality as a distinguished city including the adopting of activities companying the scientific sessions such as circles, workshops and other information areas.

Fourth:
Dubai Municipality has to invent electronic Forum on a distinguished level for dialogue between the meant experts, participants in scientific Forums and others( virtual website) that aims at exchanging knowledge, experiences and applications thereof in the different areas of knowledge, includes showing the most update specifications, international standards, experiences, skills, and researches and link them with websites of scientific centers, specialized professional organizations and others, and provides its opportunities to be available in order to be a distinguished reference for who are interested in knowledge fields and applications thereof.

• In this respect, participants would like to send a congratulation card to express their thanks and appreciation to His Highness Al Sheik Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Dubai Prosecutor Deputy, Minister of Finance and Industry, Dubai Municipality Head for his generous sponsor of this Forum and to thank His Honor Qasim Sultan Albanna the general director of Dubai Municipality for their efforts which were the great motive to help success of this Forum in order to achieve its objectives. Also, the participants express their wishes the eternal stability, progress, and prosperity for Dubai Emirate.

Finally, the participants wish the eternal stability and progress for this Forum to achieve its sublime objectives.
It has been made on 19-septembre-2005.