Results
● External experts provided insightful comments for Porsesh Research & Studies Organization that is to be addressed in the final version
● Experts expressed their willingness to implement the tools of the Civil Society Innovation Index and generate the index in Central Asia
Challenges
Develop an innovativeness assessment tool for the CSOs in Central Asia (the CS Innovation Index), which will help researchers determine the degree of innovation exhibited by CSOs in Central Asia and will also contain a self-assessment tool that allows CSOs in Central Asia to identify the areas where they can become more innovative.
Other tools
● A1 (Desk Study). This activity will be aimed to conduct desk research on existing innovativeness assessment tools, from business and government innovation planning and will comprise three sub-activities: − Literature review; − Consultation visits in the region (Central Asian Countries) − Tools development The output of this desk research shall be a structured set of questions that are applicable to CSOs (the Alpha version of the CS Innovation Index).
● A2 (Testing: pilot self-test and research): to test the Alpha version of the CS Innovation Index. There shall be two parallel tests: as a self-assessment tool by a set of 5 volunteer CSOs from the Innovation for Change Central Asia Hub, and as in indexing tool by Porsesh Research Organization in Afghanistan among a selected subset of Afghan CSOs. The output of these tests shall be a set of experiences on implementing the Alpha version.
● A3 (Reflection workshop): to conduct a reflection exercise in the form of a regional workshop of practitioners from the Innovation for Change network in Central Asia. Reflection shall be based on the experiences gained through testing, as well as external input from experts working on organizational development and innovation management in CSOs and businesses. The output of this reflection workshop shall be a set of recommendations for further development. The Reflection workshop is planned to be hosted by Porsesh Research Organization in Almaty. Five (5) representatives of regional CSOs will participate, one (1) each from Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia. Helper hub will be consulted in every step, as the work progress, particularly after the reflection workshop, the tools should be shared with helper hub for their comments and thoughts.
● A4 (Refinement and website preparation): to refine the Alpha version, based on the experiences gained in testing and the recommendations from the reflection workshop. The output of this shall be a refined set of questions (the Beta version of the CS Innovation Index), These questions and their answers shall already be formulated in such a way such as to allow easy translation into other languages. A5 (Website launch): to publish the Beta version of the CS Innovation Index. The outputs of this shall be a simple, online, localized, accessible self-assessment web site (at least in English and Russian), as well as an online research handbook for researchers studying innovation in CSOs (at least in English).