Appendix A: Notes for the ARN Research Capacity Building Component

Appendix A: Notes for the ARN research capacity building component

Background

To plan in more detail the activities to be implemented as part of the ARN capacity building component, it is relevant to consider some recommendations made by Anne Bernard in the document “Mapping Capacity Development in IDRC”.

In particular, according to Bernard, thinking strategically about capacity development requires deciding, for example, if capacity development is to be an end in itself -i.e. to produce a strong body of researchers or institutions in the specific field- or a means to an end -i.e. to strengthen capacities needed to get a specific body of research done?.

Bernard distinguishes two situations:

 The research activity itself is expected to be the opportunity for learning, with some ancillary capacity support provided as required. Here, the approach is one of learning to do research by doing it.

 The capacity goal is more central, with capacity development intended to help prepare an individual or institution to engage in research in the future or over the long-term. In this case, the approach is learning for doing research.

According to Bernard, “this distinction is important because the two approaches imply a different emphasis on the bottom-line, though again, it is more a matter of a continuum than a separate case”.

Many of the research projects that APC implements with members and partners can be considered to be building capacity through “learning by doing”. APC also makes conscious efforts to strengthen its members and partners capacities through what Bernard calls “informal” mechanisms, by generating unstructured situations where opportunities to learn are made available in the environment, but without being designed specifically as “learning events”.

But this approach has its limitations when the goal is to produce a strong body of researchers / institutions in the field of ICT policies. Therefore, it is necessary to consider if capacity-led activities should be implemented more consistently and integrated in a research capacity building strategy.

The ARN project provides a path in that direction, integrating research with other activities where capacity building is more central. The Networking and

APC: Research and communications capacity for an open, fair and sustainable networked society, 2nd technical report, July 2011 Page 1 of 5 Learning Forum held in The Philippines was an important step towards broadening APC’s approach to research capacity building. It was, in Bernard’s terms, a “nonformal” learning activity in the sense that it was deliberately structured as a learning event, but without the expectation or requirement of standardized curriculum, entry requirements or completion measurements.

The next step would be to integrate all the experience gathered by APC through actually doing research and the informal and nonformal learning activities –in particular, the NLF- into a capacity building strategy and, based on it, to develop a plan that includes both research-led and capacity-led learning activities.

Activities

Based on the above, it seems relevant to dedicate part of the resources available in the ARN project to create the necessary environment to develop research capacity building activities in the APC network in a sustainable way. This will involve the development of a capacity building strategy for APC and a plan to implement it in the next two years. This plan is intended to give origin to a new project that builds on the ARN and goes one step further towards the generation of a strong body of researchers in the APC community.

Basic “infrastructure” also needs be developed to make sure that the learning process in APC is a cumulative one. This requires, for instance that existing research resources are systemised and aggregated , so they can be easily found and used. Interactive spaces are also required for any kind of online learning activity. APC’s needs in this area have to be assessed and tools have to be identified.

APC locates communications and outreach in a central position in its theory of change. Research in APC is action-oriented. It is intended to generate evidence to support advocacy activities with the utmost objective of achieving change. Therefore, to be instrumental to the APC community, evidence resulting from research has to be communicated effectively. Strengthening the communication skills in the APC community has been identified as an important priority by APC and its members. This will also be included as one activity in the capacity building component of the ARN.

APC: Research and communications capacity for an open, fair and sustainable networked society, 2nd technical report, July 2011 Page 2 of 5 Activity 1: Capacity building strategy and plan

Bernard argues that “the critical point about a capacity development strategy is that it is important to have one. If there is no designed strategy, there will be a non-strategy by default, and the action will be less effective and efficient as a result”.

APC’s capacity building strategy should be informed by:

i. Assessment of previous research projects;

ii. Assessment and outcomes of previous informal and nonformal learning activities. In particular:

1. Research capacity building sessions held in Johannesburg in February 2008; 2. APC Networking and Learning Forum held in Panglao in March 2010.1 3. ARN capacity building workshops in LAC 2011, Johannesburg 2012 and online Feb 2012 workshop

Based on the defined strategy, a plan with concrete activities will be developed, to be implemented in APC's next strategic planning cycle from 2012 and 2015.

Following Bernard’s recommendations, the following issues will be considered when planning capacity building activities:

1. the range of capacities needed to realize short and longer term research goals; 2. the range and quality of capacities and capacity-generating sources available; 3. the range and cost of options for strengthening both and filling the gaps; and over what time-frame.

The answers to these questions will produce capacity actions ranging from low, "opportunistic", research-led capacity development activity, through to high, "purposive", capacity-led activity.

The planning would be done in face-to-face working sessions with the participation of APC staff and research experts in the APC community.

It is proposed that these sessions are held in Nairobi in parallel to the Internet Governance Forum.

1 See, in Annex 1, the needs identified by APC members and partners at the NLF.

APC: Research and communications capacity for an open, fair and sustainable networked society, 2nd technical report, July 2011 Page 3 of 5 Activity 2: Online tools and resources

The specific “ways and means” that will be required to implement the capacity building plan in APC's next strategic planning cycle from 2012 to 2015. will depend on the activities proposed, and should be considered when developing the plan. But there are some activities that need be done to build the necessary “infrastructure” both to build research capacity and to do research, independently of the specific activities to be implemented:

 Development of a document with recommendations, based on an assessment of existing tools for online capacity building activities.

 Development of a beta version of an online research platform.

The platform will include a knowledge sharing space to provide access to systematised and aggregated online research resources, including: research design templates; research outputs; database of experts in relevant areas; annotated lists of resources; calendar of strategic events.

This platform is expected to evolve to include also an interactive learning space that will integrate some of the assessed online tools.

APC ARN: priorities for building network wide research capacity and capturing learning.

The following have been identified as needs in relation to research and research capacity by members and partners at the NLF:

 Methodology for capturing research learning experiences needed: This could be an APC specific methodology, and should also be specific to context. It should feed into the APC theory of change. This is important for 'research rigour' and for effective influence over time. Effectively this means that different kinds of documentation required: Research findings; learnings; mistakes; measuring impact.

 Need to draw in outside experiences and experts: This could include a fund for travel that allows members to be co-lated with experts/institutions for a time for capacity building.

 Need to leverage the potential of internal (APC member) experts: This includes setting up peer review processes for research (could be set up relatively easily through members).

 Need for peer review processes of research (could be set up relatively easily through members).

 The interactive space should be both online and face-to-face. If online,

APC: Research and communications capacity for an open, fair and sustainable networked society, 2nd technical report, July 2011 Page 4 of 5 short interventions are necessary.

 Need to set up processes for common research agendas: There is a need for APC members to influence the research agendas of APC. There is also a need for a common repository of research ideas, not just of research being conducted.

 There is a need for capacity building on actual methodologies: This could include online workshops, face to face workshops and guides. Methodologies that are of interest to the members are:  evaluation  index/indicators (understanding them, translating their meaning to other sectors)  surveys  log frames  interviews  focus group methodologies  action research/participatory/collective research  policy analysis  cost-benefit analysis  GEM  Understanding domains/sub-domains  Capacity in costing research and managing donors needed.

 A budget for APC members to be 'placed' at interesting institutions/with individuals that fall outside of the APC member network could be explored.

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