In 2004 the Overseas Development Institute organized a seminar in London to discuss the following question: Does Evidence Matter? One of the speakers was Vince Cable, at that time the shadow minister for trade and industry with the Lib Dem party. Cable spoke at that workshop about some of the gaps that separate the political and […]
I published this blog post on ODI\’s website: The writer Elizabeth Pisani recently told an anecdote about asking 50 random people in Covent Garden, London, to point to Indonesia on a small plastic globe. Only a few pointed to the right spot. This confirmed, she said, that a country as vast, populated and diverse as
Big data, big decisions: the Indonesian way Read More »
Can a politicians resign from public office because of insufficient use of evidence in policy making? Apparently yes. This is what Norman Baker has done by leaving his Home Office minister post in early November: Norman Baker resigns as Home Office minister with parting shot at May. Norman Baker is a Liberal Democrat. His party
The unbearable lightness of research evidence Read More »
Indonesia\’s 7th President, Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, was inaugurated just two weeks ago. Last weekend he presented his new cabinet, which includes eight women in the post—the highest representation of women in the cabinet so far in Indonesia’s history. This is a time of fast change. There is a positive mood and many expectations. I watched some of the the images broadcasted
Is it possible to build a nation as complex as Indonesia before fully understanding its complexity? What is holding Indonesia together despite its diversity? Is decentralization good for Indonesia? These are some of the questions that were asked last week at the Habibie and Ainun Library in South Jakarta during the presentation of the new
Indonesia Etc.: complexity and development amongst cultural and temporal diversity Read More »
Italians like to talk about politics. Political talk shows have been popular but they seem to have reached a saturation point. Too many of them. In the morning. Later afternoon. Evening. Some shows are better than others but they also start to all look alike. The same politicians and journalists as guests. Not always
Article 18: political language, media and the shrinking space for evidence in Italy Read More »
On a regular basis programs working in the area of governance and decentralisation come together here in Jakarta to share and discuss the results of a research, studies and analysis. Yesterday I attended a presentation about the findings from an econometric analysis that looked at trends derived from 12 years (2001-2011) of secondary data on
Access and equity in local services in Indonesia: some interesting evidence Read More »
This morning I jumped on the TransJakarta bus N 1 and travelled to Central Jakarta to the modern and cozy office of PulseLab. JonneCatshoek of Elva.org was presenting about digital citizen engagement strategies for making programmes more effective and accountable. Jonne has been working for the last few years in Georgia and his presentation was about his
Community knowledge + mobile phones = evidence for policy response Read More »