The MAKCi Awards (Most Admired Knowledge City)

Which communities, cities and regions are actively increasing their societal capital by transforming traditional and knowledge based wealth into innovative solutions to their development challenges? Which cities are recognised as social capital engines for their regions? the MAKCi Award is set out to identify such cities and recognise their efforts.

Starting in 2007, the Most Admired Knowledge City Awards (MAKCi) is an international consulting process established to identify and recognize those communities around the world who are successfully engaging in formal and systematic knowledge-based development processes under the flag of Knowledge Cities.

The MAKCi exercise follows definitions of the Knowledge City (KC) as a city "purposefully designed to nurture knowledge” (Edvinsson, 2002; in Dvir and Pasher, 2004:17); a city “in which its citizenship undertakes a deliberate, systematic attempt to identify and develop its capital system, with a balanced and sustainable approach” (Carrillo, 2004:34). A KC is also “short hand for a regional economy driven by high value added exports created through research, technology and brain power” (Melbourne City Council, 2002; in Ergazakis, et.al. 2004:6). In fact, a KC is “a region that bases its ability to create wealth on its capacity to generate and leverage its knowledge capabilities through knowledge-based extended networks formed by enterprises and people” (Chatzkel, 2004:62).

Following these perspectives, the MAKCi Awards represent a converging effort of two knowledge-based organisations: the World Capital Institute and Teleos. Since 1999,Teleos has been conducting the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE) Awards. Teleos managing director Rory Chase, is a well-known personality in the Knowledge Management movement and is long-associated with the identification of Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises (MAKE). He has synchronized the bestowing of MAKE Awards to recognised enterprises in different regions and sub-regions; e. i.: MAKE-Global, MAKE-Asia, and MAKE-India. He is also the Editor of the Journal of Knowledge Management, and Managing Director of the KNOW Network, (U.K.) both established KM entities. Also inscribed in the Knowledge Management movement, Javier Carrillo is an international expert in Knowledge Valuation and Management. He is Founder and Director of the Centre for Knowledge Systems at the Monterrey Institute of Technology (México). He is President of the World Capital Institute. He is also Chairman of the Program Committee and the International Organizing Committee of the Global Knowledge Based Development Week, taking place in Monterrey, Mexico in October 2007.