Background, overview and welcome
The OTT Local Conference: South Asia 2021 was held on the 15 June and was hosted by Public Affairs Centre (PAC) and Public Affairs Foundation (PAF), a not for profit think tank based in Bengaluru. This conference sought to address the question: Challenges and lessons from the pandemic: What has to change?’
Executive directors from leading think tanks from the South Asia region spoke on a specific question vector, giving insights into the changes they have adapted and also foresee, as a result of the pandemic. The conference was represented by five executive directors from prominent think tanks in South Asia, two observers, a facilitator and the founder of OTT. The conference intended to:
- Demonstrate the work of the think tanks from the Global South.
- Present and strengthen the work done by CSOs.
- Present the voice and concerns of the people by partnering with governments in their respective countries in a systematic and structured way.
- Demonstrate the application of data science in public policymaking, programme designing and problem-solving.
- Show the positive effect of think tanks in their respective countries.
Overview
The conference was organised in two rounds. For round one, the panellists shared their experiences and challenges addressing the pandemic, and the observers provided their comments. For round two, the panellists shared two key challenges then responded to the questions that were assigned to them. This was followed by a question and answer session, along with observations from the two observers.
The conference was attended by over 50 participants.
Welcome
Gurucharan G presented the challenges and solutions for discussion. These will help to learn and provide opportunities to collaborate across the region. This, in turn, shifts the focus from the Global North to the Global South, putting South Asia at the forefront of resource discourse.
Gurucharan invited the panellists to think along the lines of how think tanks can better connect to their roots so they can represent people more accurately, how to institutionalise discourse between think tanks and their governments, how to advance data science for development strategies, and how think tanks in South Asia could work as a collective.
🎧 Listen to Gurucharan’s opening remarks: https://youtu.be/DB_HKL_18ko
What came next at the OTT Local Conference: South Asia 2021?
Round 1: Reflections from executive directors from South Asian think tanks
Think tanks and change
From think tank to change hub
Keynote by Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America
How do think tanks react to or foster change?
Read the OTT Annual Review 2020–2021
