The notion of knowledge-based economies has gained currency in the state capitals of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Over the past decade, policy documents and vision plans have laid out roadmaps for a future in which GCC citizens are highly educated and embedded in globally competitive domestic enterprises, and where oil and gas exports are not the sole but a part of the mix driving the national economic engines (ADEV 2008; QNDS 2011; MEP 2016). The visions conjure a future that would be radically different from the region's past.

These aspirations build on the gains that have been made in the GCC on the education front. Primary and secondary education access has risen (WB 2007), and public investments enabled by almost a decade of sustained budget surpluses (QNBK 2015) have sought to catalyze higher education.

While progress in educational attainment is an important milestone, many challenges remain. For instance, the quality of public primary and secondary education, development of communication and analytical skills, and performance in mathematics and science is severely lagging as compared to international standards (TIMSS 2011). This trend manifests through in the quality of higher education in science and engineering in the region.

National governments are attempting to stimulate new sectors of economic activity to provide opportunities for the burgeoning working-age population. The need to diversify GCC economies from the exploitation of non-renewable fossil resources is partly driven by the demographic balance, which has tilted heavily towards the young. An important element linked to goals of economic diversification is development of domestic science, technology, and innovation (STI) capacity (Smith and Abouammoh 2013). As a result, a host of new universities, education and training programs, research centers, and science and technology parks have emerged in the GCC countries.

The attempts to advance STI capabilities mark a new phase of development for the region. After the discovery of oil in the late 1930s and the ensuing economic transformation of the region, efforts for acquiring technical capability and know-how did not commence immediately after. The first universities were established in the late 1950s, but scientific research and the promotion of local innovation capability were not high priorities at that time.