Knowledge Consortium

Silatech's Knowledge Consortium is made up of leading academics, economists and practitioners in the field of employment representing regional and global institutions. The Consortium includes the World Bank, the International Labor Organization (ILO) the Middle East Youth Initiative of the Dubai School of Government and the Brookings Institution, the Nike Foundation, the Essam Fares Institute of the American University of Beirut and the Gallup organization among others.

The Knowledge Consortium is primarily focused on the mindset component of Silatech's three strategic goals and aims to contribute to the current conversation and initiatives that work to promote the employment of young people in the MENA region.

The programs were launched by Silatech's Knowledge Consortium at the 2009 Doha Summit include the Youth Knowledge Labs, and the Silatech Index.

The Youth Knowledge Labs will, among other things, collate all of Silatech's data and serve as incubators of knowledge to add to the global and regional databases on young people and employment opportunities. The labs will be planned and developed with the Wolfensohn Center for Development at Brookings, the Dubai School of Government and other stakeholders. A network of experts in the area of knowledge development will be established and dialogues to be conducted with country policymakers in the region.

The Summit marked the first publication of the Silatech Index - a scientific broad based objective survey of the challenges facing young Arabs, highlighting the problem of unemployment, skills mismatch and its implications for social and economic development. The Index aims to amplify the voices of Arab youth to the world of decision makers and opinion shapers. Ultimately, the Index aims to build a culture that integrates young people's opinion in a country's decision making processes, and in turn, influence policies to bring about effective change in improving opportunities for young people.

Silatech Knowledge Consortium Members:

1. Dubai School of Government
2. EMSI - Economic Modeling Specialists Inc
3. Gallup
4. Imagine Nations Group
5. International Labour Organization
6. Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs
7. Nike Foundation
8. Silatech
9. The Wolfensohn Center for Development at the Brookings Institute
10. World Bank – Global Partnership for Youth Investment