Working Paper

Information Ecosystems of Policy Actors – Reviewing the Landscape

Abstract

This is a draft report to share some interim findings from the study – Information Ecosystems of Policy Actors – reviewing the landscape. This report is for general circulation on the understanding that it is a work in progress. The research was part of the Mobilising Knowledge for Development programme funded by DFID (UK). The programme is based at IDS and works with a range of partners and collaborators to strengthen the knowledge intermediary sector. The study was structured around three key research questions: 1.What is the current information ecosystem of actors engaged in the Research Policy Praxis? 2. What are the possibilities that there will be a behaviour change towards the new services available through the newer wireless ICT? 3. Can researchers and/or research intermediaries use the existing and/or the anticipated ecosystem to better place research-based evidence that might inform policy actors, to design effective strategies of engagement? The interim findings report on face-to-face structured interviews with 368 policy actors in 4 countries – Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal and India. The final version will complete each country dataset to 100 respondents and add respondents from Bangladesh and Kenya. The study presents data to inform the key research questions. With each chapter the report makes recommendations for the knowledge intermediary sector