A knowledge society may be defined in two ways. One definition is that knowledge society exists when more than half the gross national product is provided by the knowledge industries. There are the organizations which produce and distribute ideas and information rather than goods and services. It refers to societies that are well educated, and who therefore rely on the knowledge of their citizens to drive the innovation, entrepreneurship, and dynamism of that society’s economy. Examples of knowledge industries are newspaper publishing, television, education, book publishing, telephone communication, and data processing.
Perhaps the second definition is more relevant from the point of view of an Employer. It is that a knowledge society exists when more than half the labor force is employed in knowledge-based occupations rather than manual occupations. Knowledge-based occupations are most of the professional, managerial and technical occupations as defined by the census.
