Transcript HH-DEIP-Panama-2016x - unu

Communication of Innovation Policy:
From Paper to the Press
Howard Hudson, January 2016
Recent DEIPs across
Latin America & Caribbean
Barbados, June 2013
Dom Rep, Dec. 2014
Bolivia, Oct. 2013
DEIP Kenya, Oct. 2014
PREMISE
• Public policies need to be properly communicated to ensure
both transparency and impact.
• By ‘properly communicated’ we mean fully explained and
‘mediated’ to a wider audience.
• The more technical the policy, the greater the need for this
public-facing work.
• When this is done well, all sides can benefit from better mutual
understanding and, in turn, improved levels of public trust.
What are the rights
of citizens?
According to Article 27 of the UDHR:
• “Everyone has the right… to share in
scientific advancement and its benefits.”
• “Everyone has the right to the protection of
the moral and material interests resulting
from any scientific, literary or artistic
production of which he is the author.”
 http://bit.ly/1TjYQvA
What are the obligations
of governments?
• i) to ensure the public dissemination of
scientific policy plans and related results;
• ii) to create and maintain a just ‘ecosystem’
for entrepreneurs.
 http://bit.ly/1TjYQvA
Two inter-connected problems
for policy communication
Public
interest
Public
trust
TRUST?
Public trust in democratic institutions
in Latin America
• “El rango de confianza en que se mueven…
las instituciones de la democracia en América
Latina en los últimos 20 años no supera los
4 de cada 10 latinoamericanos…
• “Es decir la mayor parte de la población
desconfía de todas estas instituciones todo
el tiempo.”
 http://bit.ly/1KzZg9W
Perceptions of corruption in
Costa Rica, Panama & Honduras
 http://bit.ly/1SHfmq3
Priority issues in Latin America
• Combating impunity for corruption...
• Opening political financing to public scrutiny...
• Creating public registries of actual company owners...
• Tackling inequality by incorporating transparency as a
central element of social investment...
Alejandro Salas,
Regional Director for the Americas
 http://bit.ly/1SHfK7X
INTEREST?
Policy communications:
Linear or integrated?
• Simply the ‘final flourish’, adorning
completed research and agreed
policies?
• Or an integral part of policy design
and evaluation, from start to finish?
Simple spheres of influence:
Linear paths of communication?
Researchers
Citizens
Policymakers
Journalists
The problem of public interest
One UN organisation analysed the
public reach of its reports for 2008-12…
• Never cited: 86%
• Downloaded <100 times: 40%
• Never downloaded: 31%
 http://bit.ly/1uevrXs
Even the mighty struggle…
“There’s a kind of Darwinian struggle for the survival
of ideas -- even for the World Bank, one of the best
think tanks in the world…" Prof. Adam Szirmai
 http://bit.ly/1uevrXs
Dead ends vs. ‘Live’ ends?
 Dead ends = Jargon-filled PDFs
 ‘Live ends’ = Multi-layered approach:
via articles, blogs, briefs, op-eds,
training and videos in plain language
 Reaching a mass audience via
traditional and social media. Basically,
a mix of internal and external channels ...
 http://bit.ly/1uevrXs
Not separate spheres of influence,
but interconnecting cogs
Journalists
Researchers
Policymakers
INPUTS, OUTPUTS
& FILTERS
US policymakers:
Inputs & influences
Survey of >200 US policymakers (2014)
What roles? ‘US policymakers want scholars as
informal advisors (87%), as creators of new
knowledge (72%), and as trainers (54%).’
What sources? ‘Policymakers find newspapers
as useful as classified information (both
>60%)… Op-eds are influential due to where
they are published and for their short length.’
What style? ‘Policymakers find much scholarly
work inaccessible. They want them to write in
plain English… Reports >15 pages not useful.’
 http://bit.ly/1rfsnHM
UK policymakers:
Inputs & influences
Survey of >300 UK civil servants (2014)
What roles? ‘UK policymakers want academics
as knowledge providers (86%), as informal
advisors (67%), and as trainers (63%).’
What sources? ‘Policymakers read briefings
(79%), media reports of academic outputs
(61%), and social media / university websites
(51% combined).’
What’s new? ‘Social media and web presence
are increasing in importance.’
 http://bit.ly/1zen8v8
UK research policy:
Ensuring effective output #1
• “Effective research communication is a vital
element in ensuring that research makes a
difference; without it, a lot of research effort is
wasted.”
• “Many of the answers to major development
challenges are already known… but the
information is inaccessible, unusable, or
unavailable.”
• “[For] southern countries… communication of
research is a ‘moral imperative’, not an option.”
 http://bit.ly/1wxLQZV
UK research policy:
Ensuring effective output #2
• “Communication should be an integral part
of the research cycle and not an add-on…
all bilaterally funded research programmes
should allocate a minimum 10% of the
budget to ‘communication’.”
• “Support is needed in three areas:
1. to improve incentives for researchers to
communicate;
2. to build skills at personal and institutional
levels to more effectively communicate;
3. to strengthen capacity… for evidence in
policy and practice.”
 http://bit.ly/1wxLQZV
Key partners = key ‘filters’
Government
policymakers
UN
researchers
& trainers
Science
communicators
INFORMED CITIZENS
?
?
?
Any questions?
[email protected]