BANDUNG, KOMPAS.com — Kota Bandung akan memperingati Konferensi Asia Afrika (KAA) ke-60 pada 24 April mendatang. Peringatan tersebut rencananya akan dihadiri oleh para pemimpin negara-negara Asia Afrika yang tergabung dalam konferensi. Menurut Wali Kota Bandung Ridwan Kamil, salah satu kepala negara yang dijadwalkan hadir ke perhelatan itu adalah pemimpin Korea Utara, Kim Jong Un.

Menuju Bandung kreatif walikota Bandung tetapkan hari minggu sebagai hari libur.

Think tanks are organizations whose primary focus is to generate and share policy ideas that can change how the general public and key audience think about specific important issues. In addition to that, the fundamental work of a think tank is to develop new issues and provide alternatives for policy makers in making decisions. The fact is, producing and promoting ideas that can influence policy and public
opinion is no easy task. For this purpose, it is necessary to have a strategic thinking, credible research, and clear communication plan.

This book tries to examine how organizations investing in ideas on public policy, both think tanks as a whole, or individual research programs therein, can apply more strategic approach and be more
successful in playing their roles. For the most part, this book exclusively focuses on think tanks in the United States of America. That said, many lessons learned within that context are relevant to
institutional challenges faced by numerous think tanks in other countries. Some of the findings in this book are also useful for individuals attempting to generate policy impact through research programs at
universities, advocacy organizations, business associations, and other non-profit organizations. 

In general, there are three stages in a policy cycle where policy research process can be effectively implemented, namely:

1. Developing ideas and issues.
2. Providing policy alternatives.
3. Establishing decision making.

The most successful policy research efforts generally starts by setting forth clear objectives, then asking a series of follow up questions on what’s best for the organization, who are the key audiences and how to reach them, human resources, financial resources, and other resources needed during implementation, and how can the organization monitor its work and measure the generated impact.
The following are key questions that are often asked by think tanks successful in their policy researches.

1. What does the organization expect to achieve?
2. What can organizations with unique contributions do?
3. Who are the key audiences and how does the organization reach them?
4. What are resources needed by organizations and how can they develop them?
5. How does the organization evaluate the impact and what are the lessons learned?

The author of this book is successful in producing a book that is practical and easy to understand, especially for think tanks still in the organizational development phase. Not only that, the fundamental
principles described in this book can also refresh the minds of established think tanks, so that they can once more produce effective public policies that bring benefits to the people. It would be even better if
there are similar books that can examine think tank organizations outside of the Western world, so that we can take best practice examples from think tanks operating in a similar context to Indonesia, as a
developing country with extremely complex social development issues. 

In conclusion, this book is worth your time to obtain and read.