The book offers a critical evaluation of Qatars path from oil- and gas-based industries to a knowledge-based economy. This book gives basic information about the region and the country, including the geographic and demographic data, the culture, the politics and the economy, the health care conditions and the education system. It introduces the concepts ofknowledge society andknowledge-based development and adds factual details about Qatar by interpreting indicators of the development status. Subsequently, the research methods that underlie the study are described, which offers information on the eGovernment study analyzing the government-citizen relationship, higher education institutions and systems, its students and the students way into the labor market. This book has an audience with economists, sociologists, political scientists, geographers, information scientists and other researchers on the knowledge society, but also all researchers and practitioners interested in the Arab Oil States and their future.

Wolfgang G. Stock is full professor and head of the Information Science Dept. of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. His research areas include studies on smart cities, social network services and information behavior. He is author of about 300 articles and books, thereof about 30 are on prototypical cities of the emerging knowledge society.

Kaja J. Fietkiewicz is research associate at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. She is working on Social Media and on Smart Cities, especially in Japan.

Julia Barth and Julia Gremm have been assistant lecturers for Smart City Research at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. They conducted field researches on cities in the Gulf Region (especially, in Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E. and Oman) and published articles on the Arabian Way into knowledge society.

Part 1: Context.- Chapter 1. Informational Cities in the GCC States.- Chapter 2. Qatar in a Nutshell.- Part 2: Concept.- Chapter 3. Knowledge Economy and Knowledge-Based Development.- Chapter 4. Methods.- Part 3: Connection.- Chapter 5. Diversification of Knowledge-Based Industries and Foreign Investment.- Chapter 6. Creativity and the Knowledge Society.- Chapter 7. E-Government.- Chapter 8. Knowledge-Based Development.- Chapter 9. Universities and other Institutions of Higher Education.- Chapter 10. Students and Graduates.- Chapter 11. Transition of Graduates into the Labor Market.- Chapter 12. Libraries, Science Parks and Research Funding.- Part 4: Conclusion.- Chapter 13. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Qatars Way into the Knowledge Society.- Index.