On think tank technology: annual review 2019-2020

We’ve invited authors from across different disciplines, sectors and roles to offer insights into the opportunities and challenges that new technologies present to think tanks. As ever, we are excited about the possibilities, but with a healthy degree of scepticism. We are quite certain that new technologies are playing, and will continue to play a transformative role in the evolution of think tanks and think tank communities across the world. But we do not think that it will be all it is billed to be. And change, whatever that may be, should be informed by facts, rather than hype and expectation. Nonetheless, the wealth of insight and experience captured here shows that technology is causing think tanks to rethink their functions, their business models, how they develop and deliver their research agendas, who they communicate with and how they do it, as well as the skills and competencies they need to recruit. Funders too, need to consider how best to support think tanks as technology continues to pose new challenges and opportunities.