The Knowledge Sector Initiative has posted four video podcast interviews with the authors of working papers and stories of change that document international and Indonesian experiences with processes and systems that can help to strengthen the demand and use of evidence in policy making. Investing Evidence in Policy Making Over the past ten years, United […]
Video podcasts on demand and use of evidence Read More »
A couple of weeks ago I sat with Robert Kirkpatrick, the head of the UN Global Pulse Initiative who was over from the UN headquarter in New York and Diastika Rahwidiati a consultant at PulseLab Jakarta. We had an interesting chat about things that are important to us: data, big data, evidence, demand of evidence,
Don’t be scared of big data! Read More »
I contributed with Widya Sutiyo to this review written by Jessica Mackenzie of different models of government think tanks. Key points from the paper: Government think tanks have several benefits over external think tanks, including their strong understanding of government programs and priorities (which helps them to tailor advice to actual needs) and an ability to coordinate across government departments. There is
Establishing Government Think Tanks Read More »
Scary stuff happening in Miami. I read some time ago the report by Robin McKie about the rise of sea level next to a city which on average is 1,8 meters above sea level. This means that more than 2,4 million people living in the city are at risk of higher sea level and already face problems
The struggles of scientific evidence in Miami Read More »
“There’s a frustrating gap there so policy makers need skills to enable them to listen to the science and probe it for reliability.\” Here an interesting article published some time ago in The Guardian but still very relevant: Top 20 things politicians need to know about science
The illusion of controlling the future has always been with us designing and implementing development projects and programmes. Tool after tool we have had an uncomfortable relationship with the idea that development is very messy, risky, prone to failure as well as success. Forecast and planning are key activities in our work: theories of change, logframes, the old zopp, outputs, outcomes, goal. All this to maintain some control
Superforecasters exist: they are people who are ready to challenge their own ideas Read More »
Here is the 10 minutes video that summarizes the key points of the Data Innovation for Policy Making conference held in Bali in November 2014. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6r811R_JlE&w=560&h=315]
Video of the Data Innovation for Policy Making Conference (Nov 2014) Read More »
Lately I have been thinking that when one works, like I do, in the area of policy processes and how they can be better informed by knowledge and research evidence it is easy to think that the demand for evidence comes mainly (or only) from one side: government institutions. Government institutions at national and
Media and politics: what is the space for research evidence? Read More »