Modelling international development think tanks of the future

How is international development policy and strategy made? Who influences it and how? Where does that leave the relationship between research, government and development impact in the Indo-Pacific?

Bridi Rice is a 2021 awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship in not-for-profit leadership. Her project is modelling think tanks of the future. This project is taking her on a whirlwind tour of leading Australian and United States research institutions, bureaucracies, political parties, start-ups and civil society organisations. She is asking each of them:

• How do think tanks influence policy in the modern era?
• What can we take from the past to make them more effective?
• And what can we bring from the future - in areas like artificial intelligence, office-less transnational connections, globally diverse boards and big data - to ensure they address the emerging issues of our time?

This conversation is for researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and analysts who want to unpack the dynamics of international development policy-making and their role engaging with it.

Bridi will draw on her Fulbright project as well as early reflections on founding the Development Intelligence Lab and co-founding the Asia Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue - two new policy initiatives on the Australian international affairs scene.

Come ready for a candid discussion and to contribute your views and experiences to this project.

About the Speaker

Bridi Rice is an international development specialist and a 2021 awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship for Not for Profit Leadership. She holds a Master of Politics, Law Degree and Arts Degree and has worked in international development and foreign policy for 15 years, including as Director at the Australian Council for International Development, co-founder of the Asia Pacific Development Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue and as a senior public servant for the Attorney-General's Department.

Bridi is passionate about the intersection of international development, foreign policy and human security - and has just founded a new enterprise: Development Intelligence Lab with the mission to inject reason and research into Australia's regional development cooperation.

This event will be delivered online via Zoom only.

Image credit: Abstract image of a networked map of Eearth by geralt at Pixabay (Free to use under Pixabay licence)