think tanks

A conversation about policy experiments

The search for ways to design policies that help to solve societal problems is continuously evolving. The traditional evidence-based approach to policy making involves generating research results and using these to inform policy decisions. This blog post is based on an interview with Mikko Annala, Head of Governance Innovation at Demos Helsinki. It was originally posted on […]

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Estimating the return on investment of policy research and engagement

by Tanty Nurhayati Djafar , Ni Wayan Suriastini , and Arnaldo Pellini Is it possible to calculate the return of investment on a research policy project? Well, the Indonesian think tank SurveyMETER and the Knowledge Sector Initiative have given it a go for a policy research project on services and infrastructure for the aging population in the Indonesian municipality of Balikpapan. Here is what

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On the Indonesian Knowledge Sector: two new working papers

At the Knowledge Sector Initiative we have just published two new working papers on various aspects of the Indonesian Knowledge Sector and on evidence to policy processes, systems, and experiences. I really enjoyed working on these papers. Is Measuring Policy Influence Like Measuring Thin Air? The Experience of SurveyMETER in Producing Three Episode Studies of Research-based Policy

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What does data innovation mean for traditional social science research?

Pulse Lab Jakarta posted today on Medium a blog I have written with Andrew Thornley about the implication for social science research of data innovation. Hope you enjoy reading it. Data innovation and data analytics offer an unprecedented opportunity for expanding the sources of evidence that can inform policy-making. But is data innovation threatening traditional

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‘Are We Policy Analysts?’. Evidence, Policy Analysis and the Knowledge Sector in Indonesia

There are many ways for knowledge and research evidence to reach policy makers and inform policy decisions. One important channel is the analysis by policy analysts in government organizations. In January 2014, the Indonesian Parliament passed a landmark law to modernize the civil service on principles of merit and professionalism (Law No. 5 on Civil

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Policy makers meet policy researchers in Jakarta

The Nulistik Forum has been established about a year ago and is moderated by the Tempo institute in Jakarta. Every two months the members of the Forum (policy researchers, representatives from media, the private sector and government) come together to discuss discussion issues related to journalism, policy research, and policy making. The aim of the Forum if for these discussions to contribute to strengthen the skills of journalists

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Think tank management: an oxymoron?

Thank you to Jim Della-Giacoma for tweeting the link to the blog I wrote last week, think tanks underinvest in management, and for putting the question as to whether think tanks and management is an oxymoron. Are the words think tank and management contradicting each other when put side by side in the same sentence? Borrowing an Italian metaphor, we could ask whether the research done in think

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