The Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Central Asia, together with the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, successfully held a summer program for young, Central Asian analysts through the Analytics School cabar.asia.
Twenty young specialists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan took part in the program. The event was organized under the “Giving Voice, Driving Change – from the Borderland to the Steppes” project, implemented with financial support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Over seven days, participants received training on writing analytical articles, policy papers, including training in the latest programs for the collection, processing, and visual materials. Both Central Asian and international specialists acted as trainers.
Parviz Mullojanov, an independent expert from Tajikistan, discussed the basic competencies of being an analyst and also gave advice, along with his own formulas, for analytically processing materials. Nargiza Muratalieva, editor of cabar.asia, in turn presented the participants with opportunities and prospects for publishing the materials, as well as covering the standards and requirements of the articles for cabar.asia. Head of the Analytical Center “Policy Asia” Elmira Nogoibaeva (Kyrgyzstan) shared her vision of how analytical products affect public discourse.
Emil Juraev, Associate Professor of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, Lola Olimova, IWPR program manager in Tajikistan, and Kairat Moldashev, professor at Narxoz University (Kazakhstan), presented participants with basic field knowledge of the structure, standards, and methodology of writing analytical reports. Eldiyar Arykbaev, editor-in-chief of Kloop.kg, conducted another enlightening session concerning decoding media information along with recognizing fake sources.
A separate day was devoted to the modern methods of data collection, data processing software, and visualization tools. Under the leadership of the Director of the Center for Sociological Research “Zerkalo”, Kakhramon Bakozoda (Tajikistan), and editor of the “Economics” column of CAAN, Saviya Hasanova (Kyrgyzstan), participants received practical skills in working with modern programs.
Participants also gave interactive presentations during the training course and shared their knowledge of traditions, customs, and specifics about their countries.
As for international trainers, Noah Tucker, associate at George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs Central Asia Program, shared his experience and knowledge in the field of analytics for two days. Despite the dense event schedule, participants had an opportunity to acquaint themsleves with the specifics of working in an American/Western European think tank. In particular, a Skype session was organized with Roman Vakulchuk, Norwegian Institute of International Relations (NUPI), and Edward Lemon, professor in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University.
Mikhail Korostikov, expert from the Carnegie Moscow Center, generated great discussion among participants by analyzing the question of whether an analyst needs PR and, if so, how to create it? In particular, a participant from Uzbekistan, Dilmurad Yusupov, said,
“I dare say that before participating in this school, I rarely thought about writing analytical articles for the broad masses, because I thought that I was not yet ready for this kind of activity and it always seemed to me that people who write public analytics are only engaged in their self-promotion.”
More information about the summer school one can read in opinions
Finally, issues of new trends and the future of analytics were covered by Farhod Aminzhonov, deputy director of the Central Asian Institute for Strategic Studies. Participants also debated the specifics of the analyst’s work in closed countries and shared their own knowledge and experiences with each other.
A participant from Kyrgyzstan, Roza Duysheyeva, summed up the summer school by saying,
“the busy schedule of the program has met all our expectations and will have some effect on our common goals to become a useful, successful analyst of the topical problems of Central Asia.”
More information can be found here
On the sixth day of the program, all participants presented the results of their analytical articles and received recommendations from the mentors of the school and each other, which allowed them to strengthen and improve their competencies. This exercise allowed them to utilize the new skills and knowledge they acquired over the past several days.
Read in the review
On the last day, further plans were discussed to write more analytical materials, conduct online and offline meetings, hold round tables, and create an Alumni Club in order to strengthen the core of Central Asian experts.
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School of Analytics cabar.asia – Everything is just beginning …