evidence

Public services delivery, sustainability and a lesson from thermodynamics

4 Comments / Systems and change /

A couple of months ago, I was on a field visit for a review of a large-scale, government-led poverty reduction protection initiative. Watching  and learning from the staff of local line agencies navigate about how they navigate a complex, multi-partner service delivery made me think of an unlikely concept from physics: the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the concept of entropy.

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Preparing the governance systems of tomorrow: researching megatrends. A conversation with Elina Kiiski-Kataja and Tony Addison at the Oodi Library in Helsinki

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What does it mean for a government to invest and research megatrends? How does it help to prepare the governance system of tomorrow? To what extent are megatrends taken into consideration in international development research and programming? I have met Elina Kiiski– Kataja and Tony Addison at the Oodi Library in Helsinki to discuss these questions.

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Discussion Paper: State Capability, Policymaking and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Do Knowledge Systems Matter?

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I have written a blog with Vanesa Weyrauch about the paper and the main questions we pose in it which was published on Helvetas’ Mosaic: The 4IR Is Here. Do We Need to Design Development Initiatives Differently?

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Knowledge systems and inclusive governance in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. In conversation with Matthias Herr.

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In a September 2016 article in the Guardian, technology editor Alex Hearn reflected that back in 2012, Forbes magazine had posed the question: Is data the new oil? Four years on, in 2016, Fortune brushed away any doubts about the answer and declared, Data is the new oil. The rapid expansion of machine learning and

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Federalism and the demand for evidence in Nepal: in conversation with Bishnu Adhikari

1 Comment / Politics and policy /

In September 2015, Nepal promulgated a new Constitution mandating the country’s transition from a centralised unitary state to a federal state. The goal was to bring democracy to the doorstep of citizens and assign more power and responsibility to local governments. Four years on, how is the reform progressing and what role does knowledge play

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Preparing for the future: Digital technologies and the reform of Kosovo’s governance systems. In conversation with Ertan Munoglu and Norbert Pijls

1 Comment / Reading notes /

Twenty years have passed since June 1999 when the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1244, which placed Kosovo under a United Nations transitional administration. Events have unfolded very rapidly since then. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, and so far 101 United Nations states have recognised its independence. The European Union has

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We need to prepare today the knowledge systems of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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Martin Dietz until recently led the HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation team implementing the Performing and Responsive Social Sciences (PERFORM) project in Serbia and Albania. The aim of the project was to test ways to strengthening the relevance of social sciences for social and political reforms in the two countries. The project has been funded by the

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