Research Entrepreneurship & the Art of Policy InfluenceLocation: Phoenix Hotel, Yogyakarta, 19 February 2014

Research Entrepreneurship: From Surviving to Thriving

Speakers Briefing Note

Moderator: Maesy Angelina

Conference Objective:

The 2014 Knowledge Sector Conference is designed to foster discussion and dialogue among participants from across Indonesia. With the introduction of a small number of external speakers, the sessions will draw on experiences of knowledge sector and public policy stakeholders and create opportunities for sharing and learning from one another.Session Objective: Focusing on the rigors of the uphill battle that is forging a new path toward sustainable think tanks and policy research institutes, three international speakers from the perspective of a director.

Session Description in the Program Book: Creating and running a strong policy research institute is challenging. Resources are tight, regulations are restrictive and staffing is a challenge. In order to move beyond the power and persuasion of a single researcher, a strong institute is important. How do policy research institutes go about that?

Session Breakdown:

15:00-16:30 Opening: introduction of speakers by moderator, a short bio and picture of each speaker will be displayed on the screen.

Part One: 40-minutes conversation between panelists and the moderator

Indicative questions:

How do you define research entrepreneurship? How does it link to a stronger policy research institute?

In the previous session, we heard about the challenges faced by directors of Indonesia’s policy research institutes. Did you experience any of the same challenges in your institution?- If yes, can you share your experience in addressing the

challenge?

- If not, what are the other issues that you encounter in strengthening your research institute?

What is your biggest challenge in strengthening your policy research institution? How did you address it?

We believe that learning from mistakes and failures is as useful as learning from successes and good practices. Can you share an experience of what not to do in the effort to strengthen your policy research institute?

In many contexts, policy influencing relies more on the ability of researchers to build relationship with policy makers and package their findings in a compelling manner. In your experience, is there any relationship between having a strong policy research institute and an increased ability to influence policy? Can you share your experience?

Part Two:

40 minutes of Q&A with the audience (3 questions from each round)

Closing: a slide with each speakers contact details (Twitter account, blog, or a preferred method of contact) will be displayed to encourage continued conversation between audience and speakers

Note for Speakers

Stories, not presentations: the conference sessions will all be in a talk show format guided by moderators. Therefore, speakers are requested not to prepare any Powerpoint slides, but prepare stories, anecdotes, or data from your experience that are relevant to the indicative questions listed above to be verbally shared during the session.

Debates are encouraged: for a lively conversation, we suggest speakers to pick different angles to answer the questions. We would also welcome speakers to highlight difference of opinions if there is one during the session.

Speakers’ Biography

Nidhi S Sabharwal (PhD) Director, Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi, India

Nidhi Sadana Sabharwal is currently the Director at the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS), New Delhi. She is also the in charge of the Gender and Social Exclusion Studies Unit at IIDS. She has a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, in geography. She has over 13 years of research experience and has conducted considerable research on inter-group inequalities in indicators of development, caste and economic-discrimination with a focus on labour market and non-market institutions such as education, health and government programmes, gender and caste based-discrimination across economic, health, education and political spheres, caste and religion links to poverty and malnutrition and social protection. She has extensive experience in data collection, analysis and policy advocacy and has been actively engaged with the policy makers in informing policies with research-based evidence on the problems of the poor and the scheduled caste. She has also studied excluded groups in other countries such as Burakumin in Japan.

Enrique Mendizabal, founder On Think Tanks

On Think Tanks (onthinktanks.org), is a leading source of information, analysis, and opinion relating to think tanks in developing countries. On Think Tanks has also become an incubator of ideas. This includes initiatives such as a data visualisation competition for think tanks (ttdatavis.onthinktanks.org); a global exchange of think tank researchers (exchange.onthinktanks.org), a digital think tank hub to support think tank start-ups; a think tanks award being implemented by the Peruvian political magazine, PODER; and a school for future think tank leaders. For more information on Enrique Mendizabal or these initiatives visit: uk.linkedin.com/in/enriquemendizabal/, follow @onthinktanks or email him on enrique@mendizabal.co.uk

Orazio Bellettini Cedeño, Director, Grupo FARO, Ecuador

Orazio is a social entrepreneur, public policy expert, and a think tank manager. After his graduation at the Kennedy School of Government with a Master in Public Administration and Public Policy in 2004, Orazio has advised international agencies, civil society organizations and governments in several countries in issues related to the role of knowledge in the policy process, education, social change and institutional reform.Orazio has trained graduated students, Ecuadorian mayors and local government officials in local finances, development policies and public reforms at the Catholic University in Ecuador (PUCE), Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) and the University of Murcia, Spain. Orazio is the Co-funder and Executive Director of Grupo FARO, a think-and-do tank that promotes the participation of citizens in the strengthening of the state and civil society through the design, promotion and implementation of public policies that encourage equity and growth. He was awarded as an Ashoka and Avina Fellow in 2008. In 2013 he was invited by the Rockefeller Foundation as Resident Fellow at the Bellagio Center to write the book “The Natural Knowledge Society: A New Paradigm for Developing and Megadiverse countries”. He is the first President of the Ecuadorian Council of Civil Society Organizations and member of the Steering Committee of the Latin American Initiative for Policy Apply Research – ILAIPP.