DESARROLLO- Instituto de Capacitación y Estudios is made up of a highly qualified group of individuals specializing in economics, social studies, and administration, with a counsel of development experts to advise them.

The goal of DESARROLLO-Instituto de Capacitación y Estudios is to effectively contribute to: (i) building human capacity to aid in the planning and management of social and economic development processes, (ii) strengthening institutional capacity, (iii) generating and systematizing knowledge related to social and economic development with an emphasis on Paraguay, and (iv) encouraging processes of economic and social change by both supporting community leaders and public employees who are involved in improving the living conditions of those members of society who are most in need; in addition to contributing to the formation of favorable opinions towards socially sensible policies.

To fulfill their goals, the activities of the Institute are organized on three principal axes: (a) training, including both graduate studies and executive training, (b) research, and (c) technical assistance. The Institute seeks to contribute to processes of change in Paraguay through the following mechanisms:

1. Create leaders prepared to initiate change in the design of better social and economic policies.
2. Strengthen the leadership of current agents of change through executive training programs, of short duration and with specific objectives.
3. Strengthen the institutional capacity of development organizations, whether they be public or private, for profit or not for profit, through both programs to strengthen these organizations and through the promotion of innovation.
4. Conduct applied research that will identify opportunities for sustainable economic growth and social justice.
5. Insert Paraguay in international academic circles in order to ensure the sustainability of the graduate studies program as well as to provide research that will support an agenda of national social and economic development.

 
Contributions to change through graduate education.

Paraguay contains one of the lowest proportions of qualified human resources on the continent. This situation constitutes an important constraint to the development of the private sector and to the modernization of the public sector. To alleviate this constraint, an aggressive campaign will be waged to train those people who work in the institutions that are the motor behind national development. This will give those key institutions access to professionals who are willing to innovate, and who have knowledge of the instruments necessary for the planning, execution, and evaluation of processes of change to insure their constant improvement.

The graduate education programs that the Institute proposes to carry out will allow these objectives to be achieved. We will offer a solid graduate training in development and social management. Our programs will conform to international standards in terms of the programs, teaching quality, and motivation of the participants produced by the stimulating teaching environment.

The organization of graduate programs in Paraguay that conform to international standards has various advantages to sending students to receive education outside of the country, including: (i) reduced costs, (ii) alleviation of the familial and work constraints of potentially strong candidates, and (iii) formation of natural networks of highly qualified professionals in complementary fields which could drive a synergetic process of change in Paraguay.
 

Contributions to change through executive education.

To achieve economic and social development will require strengthening of the actual leadership of the organizations of change. These individuals working in high management positions will not be able to dedicate the time necessary for more systematic and demanding graduate programs. For them it is necessary to develop executive training programs, of short duration and with specific objectives, to strengthen their stance in the face of the many challenges they confront.

Through executive training it will be possible to strengthen the muscle of the leaders of change, both in the private and the public sector, as well as to increase the professionalism of the country's leadership. This greater professionalism of the leaders will increase the demand for professionals who are better trained and who design plans for constant innovation and actualization of the process of change. In this sense, there exists a clear synergy between the executive training programs and the post-graduate training that the Institute proposes to carry out.
 

Contributions to change through the strengthening of the institutional capacity of those organizations that are the motors of development.

Institutional development is fundamental to generate and carry out processes of change. Institutional strengthening will be promoted both through organizational advising as well as through the promotion of innovation in the management of development. The advising will be designed to satisfy the specific demands of international cooperation and of the distinct state run projects and entities involved in the process of change. To promote innovation a Bi-annual Prize will be competitively granted to an innovation in the management of development. A working group will be set up to rework those projects that did not win the prize, in the pursuit of the systemization and self-evaluation of innovation.
 

Contributions to change through applied research.

Paraguay faces globalization with much improvisation and without a clear course to follow. Social and economic policies are frequently made without adequate technical support in terms of planning and evaluation. The Institute proposes to contribute to the better design of social and economic policies through research of the Paraguayan reality. If Paraguay wishes to take advantage of new opportunities available in a global environment and obtain growth within it, it will be imperative to strengthen the technical correctness of current policies. The research carried out by the Institute uses state of the art economic techniques and adheres to high standards.

This research will generate analytical models contributing to the design and evaluation of appropriate policies for sustainable development. We believe that appropriate policies formed through rigorous analysis will be more easily and productively implemented both technically and politically. The analytic models that are generated and complemented by an in depth interpretation that is consistent with the realities of Paraguayan life will be the basis for proposals for a more appropriate and viable development.
 

Entry into international academic circles: The stamp of quality for training and research programs that support development.

The Institute proposes to enter international academic circles through the publication of articles by its members in top-rate scientific journals with anonymous evaluation, and through the presentation of their research advances in competitive international academic forums.

The entry of members of the Institute in this prestigious international academic environment will permit us to capture the synergetic advantages of the international academic community. Thus we can augment training networks for the graduate and executive training programs, and acquire top-rate feedback on research carried out. The advantages gained from entry into the international academic community constitute an important source of sustainability and growth for the proposed new academics in our country brought about by the Institute.