On January 30, 2018, the "Role of Think Tanks in Kazakhstan" conference was held within the framework of the Why Think Tanks Matter forum organized by the Economic Research Institute in cooperation with the Institute of World Economy and Politics under the Foundation of the First President and the Ministry of Economy of Kazakhstan.
The event was opened by the welcoming video message by the director of the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the University of Pennsylvania James McGann.
The conference was one in the series of the events of the Global Forum held annually in 150 cities around the world prior the TTCSP’s 2017 "Global Go To Think Tank Index” that is considered as one of the most authoritative ratings of think tanks in the world. The 2017 “Global Go To Think Tank Index”, the full version of which is due on March 1, was concluded after considering 7815 think tanks.
The panel discussions within the conference covered the most topical issues of activity and development of think tanks in Kazakhstan. The experts of the Institute of World Economy and Politics under the Foundation of the First President of Kazakhstan, Center for Political Analysis and Strategic Studies of the Nur Otan Party, the Talap Center for Applied Research, the Center for Strategic Initiatives, the Kazakhstan Institute of Industryial Development, "CIPR" Analytical Group, "Zerde", National Information and Communication Holding and several others were present at the event.
The Institute of Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan was represented by the Deputy Director Madina Nurgalieva, Secretary for Academic and Research Affairs Kazbek Isayev, Chief Research Fellow Vyacheslav Dodonov.
Madina Nurgalieva focused on the dominant trend of greater demand for systemic studies on a wide range of topics. According to Madina Nurgalieva, the significance of think tanks in terms of their analysis and prognostic work has increased as well as that of various expert platforms that facilitate generating new ideas and recommendations. the current realities of information excess and time deficit, the need for systematic knowledge of a specific subject is apparent. The number and variety of "think tanks" indicates of the managerial effectiveness in particular and governance as a whole.
The speaker proposed classification of the "think tanks" in Kazakhstan, by the form of ownership (public/private); by degree of openness (open/closed); by form of financing (institutional/grant); together with so-clled "one-person centers"; centers at universities; centers under political parties, etc. Among the achievements, the KAZISS Deputy Director noted the increasing variety of work formats, interdisciplinary team analytical work and the presence of Kazakhstan's "think tanks" in internationally acclaimed ratings .
The Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan and the Economic Research Institute stipulating for long-term cooperation in areas of mutual interest; joint round tables, forums, seminars, conferences and other events on the major topics of international relations, global politics, economics, security, energy, sociology, communications and others.
