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Think Tank Innovation





The nature and role of think tanks around the world have been in flux in recent years. In the 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, we noted a decline in the formation of new think tanks for the first time in 3 decades. What are the forces that have brought about the sea change in the political economy of think tanks? By the end of World War II think tanks had become indispensable advisers to presidents, prime ministers, members of parliament and congress and as the saying goes all they had to do was “research it, write it and policy makers would beat a path to their door”. In the 1970s and 80s, think tanks of every size, type and political persuasion appeared on the policy landscape. This impressive growth was due to the information and technological revolution, the increased complexity of policy issues, the growth of global philanthropy, the rise of civil society, the forces of globalization, and the demands for timely and concise policy analysis. But today, these same drivers of think tank growth may be the seeds of discontent that herald the demise of the think tanks as we know them.

Though causation is somewhat diffuse, there are certainly key factors that pose a threat to the think tank community. First and foremost, the change in how think tanks are funded poses a fundamental challenge for all think tanks. With the rise of professional philanthropy donors have moved away from providing general operating support to short term, high impact, project specific funding. This change has forced think tanks to change their fundraising strategies so they can raise the resources needed to cover their core operations. The days of a small a group of “golden donors” who provide large, multi-year institutional grants are gone. Today think tanks and most publicly supported institutions have to raise a large number of relatively small short term, project specific grants so they can have enough funds to cover the overall operations of the organization. Project specific funding has also forced think tanks to become more specialized in order to be compete in a crowded marketplace of ideas. Since the late 80s the vast majority of think tanks that have come into existence are specialized think tanks that focus on a single issue area or a carefully defined target audience. There are some journalists and scholars who have concluded that this trend has resulted in a loss of control of the mission and research agendas of many think tanks. This is a gross mischaracterization because most think tanks have well developed policies and procedures to assure the quality, independence and integrity of their research. Sure some scholars may step over the line from time to time but the vast majority of think tanks have policies and procedures in place to monitor conflict of interest, gifts from donors and adherence to basic social science research standards.

Second, the changes in power and politics around the world have led to increased pressure on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or what I describe as “NGO Pushback” that is often directed at think tanks because they are frequently in the vanguard of political and economic reform. This involves the use of legal and extra legal means to limit the number, role and influence of think tanks around the world. Equally problematic is the rise of partisan politics and political polarization that tends to erode effective decision making and blur lines between policy advice and advocacy for think tanks.

Finally, with rapid-fire technological advancements and demands for immediate commentary and analysis has intensified the competition in the global marketplace of ideas.

Media organizations, advocacy groups, consulting and law firms,– they are all vying for the attention of busy policy makes and the public policy, a space that was traditionally reserved for the think tanks. Relevancy amid a sea of policy ideas requires constant innovation, effective communication strategies, hefty political influence, and above all rigorous and timely research.

Consider the lifespan and impact of music technologies as an analogous case. Over the years, we’ve adopted and later phased out the phonographic record, the eight-track, audio cassettes, CDs, and iPods. With each major innovation, the lifespan grew shorter and became obsolete faster. Think tanks face a similar threat of extinction unless they learn to innovate and adapt to the rapidly changing political economy in which they operate.

Traditional methods of impact and delivery are increasingly less relevant and new methods of public engagement constantly emerge. This poses both an existential challenge and an incredible opportunity. Think tanks must seize the potential to innovate and adapt and be willing to throw the old rulebook out the window.

In early October 2015, the Washington Post published a series of articles gauging today’s climate for think tanks. Right out of the gate, Amanda Bennett’s piece, “Are Think Tanks Obsolete?” demonstrated the tenuous environment in which think tanks are operating. Subsequently, my piece, “For Think Tanks, It’s Innovate or Die”, proposed that think tanks are not necessarily doomed for obsolescence; rather they must innovate to remain relevant in the changing times.

In this light, the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the University of Pennsylvania and the Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil) co-sponsored an international conference that brought together chairpersons, presidents/executive directors, senior scholars, staff members, and research interns from leading global think tanks to address the need for innovation in the think tank sector. The 2015 Think Tank Innovation Summit, held in Philadelphia, PA, on December 13-15, 2015, sought to understand why certain think tanks have been able to adapt and maintain their relevance in an increasingly competitive environment. Questions explored included: What about the structure and strategy of these think tanks makes them so successful? What are innovative practices in other relevant sectors that can be adopted by think tanks to improve their performance and impact? What type of leadership is most conducive to fostering innovation? What funding practices should organizations adopt to ensure innovation?

At the Innovation Summit, leading scholars from around the world presented methods and strategies practiced by their institution to cope with the rapidly changing public policy landscape. With topics ranging from investing in diverse human capital, the rise of consulting firms, to the use of big data and new technological platforms, contributors highlights the many faces of innovation and change in the policy environment. Overall, while discussions varied, many highlighted the need to build bridges between institutions and regions to merge strategic and effective thinking across boundaries.

Think tanks today must face, head-on, the foundational challenges to their operating and dissemination models. The discussion below focuses on the forces transforming the world of think tanks and highlights representative case studies to illustrate effective innovation strategies.

Date: 2016-05-24; view: 291; Нарушение авторских прав; Помощь в написании работы --> СЮДА...



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