The presentation was made in the afternoon of 3 April at an event organised by NWO-WOTRO to consider the three research projects considering knowledge brokering in international development

1. ‹#› Het begint met een idee
AN UNUSUAL SUSPECT:
The private sector in knowledge
brokering in international development
Barbara Regeer, Suzanne Kiwanuka and Sarah
Cummings
SURe Exchange Meeting, 3 April 2018

2. ‹#› Het begint met een idee
2 Het begint met een idee
 Focus
 The team
 Main findings
 What would you like to know
about knowledge brokering with
the private sector?
1 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspectesentation
OVERVIEW

3. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 Considerable amount of research on knowledge brokering in the
field of international development: research, policy and practice
 Private sector is seen as an important actor in development
because of potential to scale up, reflected in SDGs
 The ‘private sector’ is often viewed as a cluster of homogenous
actors (corporate sector) but includes small and medium
enterprises, social entrepreneurs, consultants, financial
institutions and farmers
 Five knowledge platforms are interacting with diverse private
sector actors
2 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
BACKGROUND

4. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
3 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
THE KNOWLEDGE PLATFORMS

5. ‹#› Het begint met een idee
5 Het begint met een idee
 The role of the private sector in
knowledge brokering within
international development
 New insights targeted at the
domains of practice, policy and
research, and the private sector
 Methodology
> Knowledge hubs in Netherlands and
Uganda
> Critical interpretive synthesis, interviews,
questionnaires
4 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
FOCUS

6. ‹#› Het begint met een idee
6 Het begint met een idee
 Researchers
> Barbara Regeer
> Suzanne Kiwanuka
> Sarah Cummings
 Formal partners
> Athena Institute, VU University
Amsterdam
> The Broker
> NWO-WOTRO
 Informal partners
> Knowledge platforms
> KM4Dev online community
5 Faculty of Science / Athena Insitute / An unusual suspect
THE TEAM

8. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 There is a dearth of scientific literature on the role of the
private sector in knowledge brokering
 Most literature focuses on linking academia, policy and
practice
 Private sector is mentioned in passing rather than
analysed closely
 Private sector activities in knowledge brokering are
broad: linking, information management, capacity
building, funding, facilitating and evaluating
7 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
MAIN FINDINGS OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW

9. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 Formal and informal knowledge brokering
> Formal activities have a well-defined Memoranda
of Understanding, within the confines of policies
> Informal ones were ad hoc, non-defined activities,
no clear outputs and with undefined activities.
 Vertical (upwards and downwards) and horizontal
with other private sector players
 Partnerships/stakeholders are fluid based on issues
at hand
 Partnerships can be short-term or long-term
8 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
PARTNERSHIPS

10. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 Intentional knowledge brokering: many private
sector knowledge brokers have created points
within organizations with necessary infrastructure
 Pro-active: the private sector actively seeks out
engagements and partners
 Co-location: the private sector actors locate
themselves strategically where they can get insider
information, whether this is geographically or inter-
personally
 Competence: the private sector creates a well-
rounded team of experts to establish reputation
9 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
GOOD PRACTICES 1

11. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 Confirmation: private sector actors seek to become
legitimate through building a solid reputation. The
quality of evidence and their experience/gravitas,
makes them trusted influencers as ‘go to’ people
 Context: political support/legislature has in some
instances positioned the private sector to do their
work better
 Resources: the private sector has resources to
produce good evidence and build reputation
 Communication: the private sector invests in
strategic communications through websites,
newsletters etc
10 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
GOOD PRACTICES 2

12. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 Different timelines with government systems.
 Funding is unpredictable: most initiatives are
externally funded with questionable sustainability
 Lack of trust across knowledge brokering
horizontally: competition for resources limits the
private sector’s ability to plan and implement long
term strategic objectives
 Lack of functional platforms and linkages.
 Turnover of staff disrupts established relationships
and competence.
11 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
MAIN CHALLENGES

13. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
 What are the main challenges in your own work
with the private sector?
 To what extent do the preliminary findings,
particularly the challenges, resonate with your own
experience?
 Do you have some good examples of working with
the private sector in knowledge brokering?
 What would you like to know about working with the
private sector in knowledge brokering?
12 Faculty of Science / Athena Institute / An Unusual Suspect
FOUR ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION