Presentation by Stéphane Jacobzone, Head of Unit on Evidence, Monitoring and Policy Evaluation. For more information see: http://www.oecd.org/gov/building-capacity-for-evidence-informed-policy-making-86331250-en.htm

1. BUILDING CAPACITY FOR
EVIDENCE-INFORMED POLICY-
MAKING
September 2020
Stéphane Jacobzone
Head of Unit on Evidence, Monitoring and Policy Evaluation

2.  Ensuring demand for evidence has become very challenging in
a context of global over-supply of knowledge and the complex
political process.
 Evidence has a critical role to play in improving the quality,
responsiveness and accessibility of public services.
 Despite the potential for evidence use, in reality an effective
connection with research evidence in policy making
remains elusive.
 The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need for evidence
as well as the multiple dimensions that need to be taken into
account to inform decisions
WHY Evidence Informed Policy Making?
An enabler of good public governance
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3. Identifying the barriers and facilitators that
impact the use of evidence
• Organisations and resources
• Policy makers’ characteristics
• Interface between decision makers and suppliers of evidence
• Features of the research and available evidence
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How can we better connect the dots between supply
and demand for evidence?

4. Increasing the use of evidence depends on
Capability, Motivation and Opportunity
The Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour model

5. 5
Addressing capacity at multiple levels
Individuals
Teams
Organisations
Institutional
frameworks

6. Understanding Obtaining
Interrogating
and Assessing
Using and
Applying
Engaging With
Stakeholders
Evaluating
Towards a relevant set of skills, knowledge and
attitudes for individuals
A joint framework elaborated in cooperation with the JRC, building on OECD’s work on
policy advice and evidence, on core skills for public sector innovation, and on the JRC’s
framework for skills for evidence informed policy making

7. Examples of building individual capacities
Seeking, Engaging with and Evaluating Research (SEER) - Australia
Source: Adapted from Brennan et al (2017[48]). Seeking, Engaging with and Evaluating Research (SEER)
The SEER is a tool to measure individual policy maker’s capacity to engage with and use
research. It uses a questionnaire consisting of 50 questions and is broken into three
categories of assessment to identify areas for improvement in the use of research.

8. Organizational
capacity
factors
Tangible factors
Intangible factors
Initiatives to
increase
organizational
capacity
Improving
organizational
tools, resources
and processes
Improving the
knowledge and
data infrastructure
Establishing
strategic positions
and units to
champion an
evidence informed
approach
Building capacities for EIPM uptake
at organizational level
Organisational capacity encompasses factors which can either support
or impede the use of evidence within organisations.

9. Example of building organizational capacity
Policy Methods Toolbox – New Zealand
The Policy Methods Toolbox developed in New Zealand is a repository of policy
development methods that helps policy practitioners identify and select the right
approach for their policy initiatives.

10. Identifying barriers and facilitators
Diagnostic tools to promote understanding of evidence
Initiatives to increase policy makers 'ability to obtain evidence
Mentoring initiatives to build policy makers capacity to use evidence
Diagnostic tools to evaluate organisational capacities for EIPM
Initiatives to build organizational capacities for EIPM
What other interventions, strategies and tools can
strengthen capacity for EIPM?

11. Barriers and facilitators

12. Improving the knowledge management
and data infrastructure
Very active field with many initiatives
Evidence Based policy making act (US )
Evaluation Act (Japan)
Integrated Data Infrastructure (New Zealand)
Nordic countries’ experiences with registries
Data governance strategies
A data driven public sector (OECD 2019)
Open data strategies

13. Establishing strategic positions, units, professions,
domestic or international networks
 Chief scientists, Chief Science Advisors, Chief economists, Chief
statisticians
 Policy professions (UK), government economics and statistics
service (France), IGEES (Ireland)
 Units:
What Works centres in the UK,
CPB (Netherlands), Productivity Commission (Austsralia)
Directorate for Monitoring and evaluation in the Presidency
(Colombia, South Africa)
Japan Policy evaluation Council
 Wider constituencies of knowledge brokers (JPAL, INGSA)

14. Some key take aways
1. Capacity building initiatives need to be aware of the local political and
institutional context of research use.
2. Capacity building initiatives need to address the full range of skills and
capacities that influence the use of evidence.
3. Institutional and organisational structures and systems enable the
effective use of evidence.
4. Strategic leadership is critical.
5. Capacity building initiatives should embed evaluation from the
beginning.
6. Capacity building initiatives need to be embedded within organisational
structures and strategies.
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15. THANK YOU!
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Stephane.jacobzone@oecd.org