Innovating policy from the centre

Speaker: Yanuar Nugroho, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Executive President Office, Indonesia; 

Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester, United Kingdom

Chair: Joe Ravetz, Manchester Urban Institute

 

How can science-technology-innovation (STI) studies help with policy and policy-makers on the ground?  Just as cities show layers through time, many public institutions seem to address the problems of the past.  But looking forward, in urban and economic development, social policy and public services, there are new and powerful insights coming from non-Western settings.

Taking the case of Indonesia, this presentation (or perhaps more accurately some stories from the field), explores  how policy innovations are structurally organised in the developing world, and how they affect the development on the ground. It depicts the case of development priorities in Indonesia 2014-2019 under President Joko Widodo’s administration. While delivering his political promises “Nawacita” (or nine ideals, representing nine development agendas), the country also was committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the National Determined Contribution in combating climate change (NDC), and Open Government Partnership (OGP). In addition, the advent of the digital economy has posed unprecedented challenges, for the government’s bureaucracy and business processes.

Through some real stories from the field, I argue that the ways in which policy innovation is supported have a direct bearing on the capability of the government to generate knowledge, which in turn helps strengthen evidence-based policy and decision-making processes. There  are signs of change in how the government, particularly central or top agencies and ministries, can innovate for better development policy and practices. Some cases are presented to better understand the institutional, socio-political and economic conditions driving these changes, and their consequences for knowledge-based and evidence-based public policy.

Refreshments are available at 15:45.