Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales -CIEN-

What Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales -CIEN- does

Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales (CIEN) is an independent, non-profit Guatemalan policy research think tank founded in 1982 and legally constituted in 1984, headquartered in Guatemala City. The organization operates a research-action model across four pillars: Economic Freedom (macroeconomics, fiscal policy, trade, infrastructure), Social Development (education, health, nutrition, poverty), Citizen Security (crime prevention, justice system, police, penitentiary), and Institutional Strengthening (legislative support, public management). Its core products include policy guideline documents (eight iterations from 1990 to the current 2024-2028 'Ruta para la Dignidad Humana'), the digitized Flujograma de la Justicia Criminal platform (justiciacriminal.gt, launched October 2021), the monthly Índice de Denuncias de Delitos (IDD) crime index, Alerta Presupuesto budget monitoring, and a publication portfolio spanning 621+ library documents, 25+ books, and approximately 1,000 blog posts. CIEN serves Guatemalan government institutions (multiple administrations since 1989), the Congreso de la República via the Programa de Apoyo al Organismo Legislativo (PAL, ongoing since 1991), the Coalición por la Seguridad Ciudadana (where CIEN serves as technical arm since 2014), and journalists/civil society through direct outreach and media materials. Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed and operate primarily through project-based funding, international cooperation grants (e.g., CIPE for the COVID-19 Observatory), and bilateral partnerships with entities such as FUNDESA, Atlas Network, and FIU's Adam Smith Center, with explicit independence maintained from financing sources. The team comprises approximately 19-33 researchers and collaborators including Hugo Maul Rivas (Director of Economic Area) and David Casasola (Flujograma project director).

Name

Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales -CIEN-

Legal name

Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales

Website

https://cien.org.gt

Company type

Private

Founded year

1982

Operating status

Operating

Short description

CIEN is an independent Guatemalan non-profit think tank founded in 1984 that produces policy research, data platforms, and guideline documents across economic, social, security, and institutional topics for the Guatemalan government, Congress, and civil society.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Guatemala City

HQ country

Guatemala

HQ region

Latin America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Research Studies and Consultancies: CIEN conducts studies and consultancies with technical rigor to influence public policy in economic, social, and security areas. The organization works with government ministries, Congress, and international organizations.
2. Publication Sales and Educational Programs: The organization publishes books, technical documents, and educational materials. In 1988, CIEN developed the 'Economics Course for Journalists' training over 100 journalists that year.
3. International Cooperation and Grants: CIEN receives support from international organizations. Notably, the COVID-19 Observatory was developed with support from CIPE (Centro para la Empresa Privada Internacional).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CIEN is a Guatemalan non-governmental think tank that conducts rigorous economic, social, security, and institutional policy research to influence public decision-making. It produces technical studies, policy guidelines (Ruta para el Desarrollo), budget monitoring reports (Alerta Presupuesto), a monthly crime complaints index (IDD), a digitized criminal justice efficiency platform (Flujograma de la Justicia Criminal), books, and data visualizations, delivering them to government, Congress, journalists, and civil society.

Product overview

CIEN (Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales) is a research-action think tank focused on public policy analysis for Guatemala. The organization operates a portfolio of interconnected research products and platforms: core offerings include DesarrollApps (development proposals across 8 policy areas), Alerta Presupuesto (budget monitoring), and the Flujograma de la Justicia Criminal data visualization platform (www.justiciacriminal.gt). Supporting sub-products include Tema del Mes publications featuring the monthly Índice de Denuncias de Delitos (IDD), Vistazo Económico bulletins, Investigaciones reports, Libros, and a comprehensive Biblioteca document library. Policy guidance is provided through the Ruta para el Desarrollo roadmap documents (2024-2028 and 2020-2024 editions) covering governance, economy, health, education, infrastructure, and security. The Visualización de Datos section provides interactive security data dashboards. CIEN functions as the technical arm of the Coalición por la Seguridad Ciudadana.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Alerta Presupuesto: A project that alerts in public debate about aspects of the national budget beyond annual cyclical discussions, analyzing budget execution and structural changes needed
• DesarrollApps
• Índice de Denuncias de Delitos (IDD)
• Ruta para el Desarrollo
• Índice de Burocracia
• Coalición por la Seguridad Ciudadana
• Flujograma de Justicia Criminal
• Programa de Apoyo al Legislativo (PAL)
• Alianza por un Congreso Eficiente

Products and services

• DesarrollApps A set of development proposals ('Apps') covering 8 priority topics for driving Guatemala's development: Health, Education, Employment, Infrastructure, Citizen Security, Public Spending, Budget, and Congress of the Republic.
• Alerta Presupuesto A public budget monitoring program that analyzes government spending patterns, fiscal responsibility, and structural changes needed to improve public budgeting in Guatemala's national budget execution.
• Visualización de Datos Interactive data visualization tools for monitoring citizen security indicators including homicide statistics, injuries, kidnappings, extortion, vehicle theft, and other crime metrics sourced from PLADEIC.
• Flujograma de la Justicia Criminal A digitalized criminal justice flowchart methodology that measures the efficiency of institutions and the justice system as a whole, with data automatically shared between institutions for quarterly calculations.
• Tema del Mes Monthly topic publications featuring current research and analysis on priority policy issues, including the monthly IDD crime complaint index and special monthly topics, with 225 publications covering citizen security topics.
• Vistazo Económico Economic overview bulletins providing updated economic information and analysis on topics including employment, tax administration, competitiveness, and economic perspectives.
• Investigaciones Research publications including budget analysis, bureaucratic index studies, collective pact studies, cybersecurity law analysis, and value chain studies, with 134 research publications produced.
• Libros Books published by CIEN covering topics such as development agenda, teacher policies, women's entrepreneurship, rural development, trade aid evaluation, transparency indices, and economic policy guidelines, with 25+ books published.
• Biblioteca Document library containing all publications by CIEN classified by document type, coverage area, author, and date, with over 621 registered documents.
• Ruta para el Desarrollo 2024-2028 Policy guidelines for 2024-2028 addressing governance, digital transformation, public management, health and nutrition, education and technology, infrastructure, economy, and citizen security and justice, as the eighth iteration of policy guidelines for Guatemala.
• Ruta para el Desarrollo 2020-2024 Development roadmap for 2020-2024 covering digital government, health and nutrition, education and technology, economy employment and infrastructure, security and criminal justice, and public management proposals.
• Observatorio #COVID19GT COVID-19 Public Spending Observatory developed with support from CIPE to track budget execution of resources assigned to combat COVID-19 in Guatemala, with biweekly information presented in four categories.

Quantifiable outcome

• Produced 8 policy guideline documents (Lineamientos) for successive Guatemalan governments over 34 years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025BCIE published a summary of CIEN's research on 'Value Chains in Central America and Southern Mexico', analyzing chains with greatest potential for investment and formal employment generation.
• Adam Smith Center de Florida International University (FIU)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaborated on the 'Índice de Burocracia 2023' (2023 Bureaucracy Index) measuring bureaucratic burden on small businesses in 17 Iberoamerican countries. Published in collaboration with Atlas Network.
• Atlas NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Partnered with Adam Smith Center at FIU to produce the 'Índice de Burocracia 2023' study on bureaucratic burden across Iberoamerica.
• Coalición por la Seguridad CiudadanacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 October 2021CIEN serves as the technical arm (brazo técnico) of the Coalición por la Seguridad Ciudadana since 2014. The coalition works to improve citizen security and justice in Guatemala through institutional strengthening. CIEN contributes the IDD crime index and technical analysis to the coalition's efforts.
• Fundación para el Desarrollo de Guatemala (FUNDESA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 October 2021FUNDESA and CIEN jointly launched the www.justiciacriminal.gt platform. FUNDESA's executive director stated the coalition has worked since 2014 on strengthening security institutions. David Casasola from CIEN directed the platform development project.
• GuatevisibleminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Part of of the 'Alianza por un Congreso Eficiente' (Alliance for an Efficient Congress) created in 2019 with five organizations. The alliance measures Congress performance and proposes important legislation.
• Fíjate BienminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Part of the 'Alianza por un Congreso Eficiente' created in 2019. Jointly produces the 'Congreso Eficiente' report analyzing legislative performance.
• Crime Stoppers GuatemalacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Crime Stoppers joins CIEN and FUNDESA in the Coalición por la Seguridad Ciudadana, contributing to the IDD crime index presentation and citizen security initiatives.
• Congreso de la República de GuatemalacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1991CIEN created the 'Programa de Apoyo al Organismo Legislativo' (PAL) in 1991, providing ongoing technical support to Congress for analysis of existing laws, bill proposals, and new legislation related to socioeconomic development.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• FUNDESA (Fundación para el Desarrollo de Guatemala): Guatemalan private economic-development think tank that partners with CIEN on the Coalición por la Seguridad Ciudadana and joint digital platforms. It is the closest domestic peer in scope (economic policy advisory) and is simultaneously a collaborator and competitor for Guatemalan policy influence.
• ASIES (Asociación de Investigación y Estudios Sociales): Guatemalan social and political research association producing policy analysis on governance, security, and democratic institutions. Operates with a similar non-profit, government-advisory model and competes for the same donor and media mindshare in Guatemala.
• Fedesarrollo: Colombia's leading independent economic-policy think tank producing government advisory output including quarterly economic outlooks and policy proposals. Closely comparable operating model to CIEN: non-profit, independent, government-facing research.
• CIDE (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas): Mexican academic policy-research center producing rigorous economic and social policy analysis for government and the public sector. Comparable as a Spanish-language, government-adjacent policy-research institution with similar publishing and conference models.
• CIUP (Centro de Investigación de la Universidad del Pacífico): Peruvian economic and social policy research center that produces independent policy advice for government and the private sector. Mirrors CIEN's function as a national-scale policy think tank delivering regular economic outlooks (Vistazo Económico equivalent) and policy proposals.
• Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS): German political foundation with an extensive Latin America program supporting policy research, democracy, and rule-of-law initiatives. Functions as both a potential funder and a peer organization running comparable policy-research programs in Guatemala and the region.
• Atlas Network: International network of free-market think tanks that partnered with CIEN on the 2023 Bureaucracy Index. Directly comparable as a policy-research umbrella with aligned economic-freedom orientation and shared methodology platforms.
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES): German political foundation operating in Latin America on democratic policy, social justice, and economic governance research. Peer in the international donor/foundation space that co-funds and co-produces policy research in Guatemala and the region.

Regional players

• ICEFI (Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales): Central American fiscal-policy research institute headquartered in Guatemala with regional coverage. Overlaps with CIEN on budget monitoring (Alerta Presupuesto) and tax-policy analysis, with a stronger cross-border Central American footprint.

Others

• The Carter Center: U.S.-based non-governmental organization running governance, democracy, and transparency programs in Latin America. Related as a thematic peer focused on citizen security, rule of law, and institutional strengthening, but with a global rather than Guatemala-specific mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CIENgt
• YouTubeyoutube.com/results?search_query=Cien+Guatemala
• Facebookfacebook.com/cien.guatemala

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centro de Investigaciones Económicas Nacionales -CIEN-