Erica was born in 2016. The day she was born she was already 23 years old. That is because Erica is an android. The most advanced humanoid or android to date developed through a collaboration between Osaka and Kyoto universities, and the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute… Read More
UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has published its latest report. The authors of the landmark report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to reach the target, which is affordable and feasible although it lies at… Read More
Growing up in Italy during the 1970s and 1980s, I remember Albania being geographically very close, just 150 kilometres across the sea from the harbour city of Brindisi. At the same time, closed and isolated by its communist regime, it seemed very far away. Many… Read More
I was in Helsinki last week for a presentation and discussion at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. This was part of the yearly Studia Generalia, a series of seminars organised by the Ministry and the Finnish Society for Development Research where researchers have the opportunity… Read More
Here is an image of the beautiful winter we are having in Tampere to accompany the articles and papers I enjoyed reading last week. Duncan Green published When does Tech → Innovation? Here’s what 178 projects tell us. The blog is about a study of… Read More
There is an interesting exchange mid-way through David Letterman’s interview to President Barack Obama on Netflix. Letterman asks President Obama about his reflection on policymaking and the role and power that the president actually has. Obama answer is quite illuminating in terms of the nature of… Read More
As I reread Duncan Green’s blog about an interesting conversation we had over a coffee few weeks ago in Brixton (How might a systems approach change the way aid supports the knowledge sector in Indonesia?), it occurred to me that I could add something. ‘Systems’,… Read More
Recently, we attended a two-day workshop on ‘Implementing the New Development Agenda: Doing Development Differently (DDD), Thinking and Working Politically (TWP) and Problem Driven Iterative Adaption (PDIA).’ The event was co-organised by the Knowledge Sector Initiative, the KOMPAK programme, and The World Bank in Indonesia… Read More
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… Read More
I wrote this a year or so ago. Being a bicycle commuter in Jakarta, make me think about the wicked hard problem of transportation in this city. Still hoping…. — Even though this is Jakarta, I cycle every day to work. Last week, I think it was Wednesday, I rode my… Read More
