The course was designed around 4 main themes. It engaged country teams in the learning throughout the duration of the course and provided them with opportunities to present what they are doing or thinking of in terms of KE initiatives. In this spirit:

• Day 1 looked at visions and strategies for building knowledge economies (KEs), including a key presentation by a leading specialist, a high level panel policy focused discussion of what it takes to build KEs as well as presentations from participating country team on their on-going strategic initiatives to harness knowledge for development. This kind of action learning approach helps to keep focus throughout the duration of the course.
• Day 2 focused on KE implementation strategies and methods and the critical role played by education and skills in the KE. First half of the day would focus on KE implementation methods; creating an ideal platform at national level for integrated fast-tracked KBE efforts. The second half of the day would focus on education and skills—this would emphasize the need not only for high quality and relevant primary, secondary and tertiary education, but also stress the importance of nurturing “soft” skills such as problem-solving and analytical skills, the ability to work with others in a team-based environment, communication skills, as well as ICT skills across education levels.
• Day 3 focused on a discussion of the importance for countries to promote private sector development and invest in innovation, including the need for creating an enabling environment that encourages all actors in the innovation system--firms, research centers, universities, think tanks, consultants and other organizations--to tap into the growing stock of global knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to local needs and create new technology.
• Day 4 looked at the overall KE agenda and sum up from the action plans presented by the participating country teams. Each country should develop a concrete summary of ideas on how they could take forward the particular KE-related theme that they worked on during the course in their countries, and perhaps, identify areas where K4D/the Bank could be of possible assistance. The course ended with an evaluation of the course – what worked and what did not work.

Learning Process
 
In order for the learning event to meet its intended objectives, the course team intended to start a process of engaging and active learning with participants — before, during, and after the event — using a mix of blended learning, with both e-learning, videoconference, and face to face elements.

• We have used the platform of KE learning event in Korea, July 2008 as a launching pad for this process. In this process, we have also begun to engage with Bank teams from the respective countries on this course.
• We held a Video Conference (VC) dialogue before the start of the course targeting core teams from 2-3 countries at a time. During these VCs, we introduced the teams to each other and (1) provided a brief overview of the design of the learning event in Alexandria, May 17-21, (2) introduced participants to an e-learning platform, which contain some of the key K4D content and building blocks on the KE (readings, Knowledge Assessment Methodology (KAM), as well as background papers that had been prepared for each country), and (3) provided participants some guidelines of how to get ready for the face to face course and expectations of the country teams. Teams were also charged with preparing about the specific KE-related “theme” that they would work on during the course.
• After the course, we hope to promote ongoing exchange and sharing of experience among the countries, as through building a network of people who would be able to discuss issues related to KE strategy development and indeed, the challenges that they face in implementing some of the KE-related reforms in their countries.
• Based on demand from the client countries, and in partnership with Bank counterparts, K4D could engage with clients more formally in a number of ways, from undertaking KE assessments, to working on specific sectoral initiatives, as for example, an innovation plan, customized capacity building learning events, and so on.