Approach to Research and Evidence

KGI believes that decisions about technology should be grounded in evidence, and that belief drives KGI’s mission to connect independent research with technology policy and design. We are expert-led and evidence-driven, with a rigorous commitment to promoting independent, non-partisan research and leveraging that research to inform policy. These values underscore our approach to identifying, synthesizing, and communicating information relevant to a particular technology or policy topic. We work to identify areas of consensus and identify priority questions to forge more evidence-based responses to pressing issues related to technology, policy, and ethics.

To respond to different policy opportunities and needs, we utilize different approaches to research synthesis and communication. We summarize our common approaches below.

Expert Working Groups on Priority Issues

Expert working groups (EWGs) are a core KGI strategy to evaluate evidence and strengthen policy consensus on specific issues, and a strength of KGI’s approach. Through EWGs, we bring together relevant experts for a time-bound project to summarize expert knowledge and articulate policy options. This is often a lengthy process which includes recruiting appropriate experts and convening them over many months to develop a sense of what conclusions we are able to draw from relevant extant research.

The output of this process may take many forms, including reports, events, summaries, media toolkits, social media artefacts, and others as needed to make EWG conclusions as accessible as possible to many audiences, including policymakers, journalists, and the public. In addition, we will continue to draw on these expert conclusions as opportunities arise, such as specific requests from or conversations with policymakers or in public comments responding to official solicitations. KGI’s EWG model is described in depth here.

KGI Policy Communications

As an organization focused on informing technology policy and design, we engage policymakers, regulators, journalists and the public on priority policy themes. To effectively engage real-time policy debates, we balance the rigor of the EWG model with timelines of policy debates by combining the knowledge gathered through existing EWGs with our own review and synthesis of relevant research.

We take a cross-disciplinary approach to research and seek to ensure that we capture multiple perspectives and lived experiences. To that end, as part of our research process we incorporate conversations with experts in the relevant field or topic. Whenever possible, we will circulate draft policy communications with outside experts before finalizing them for publication. While the research process for these products may be less robust than that of our EWGs, this process is still grounded in evidence from authoritative sources. We strive to accurately reflect where there are gaps, discrepancies, and contradictions in the bodies of research we reference. 

KGI Commentary

Finally, KGI regularly summarizes key evidence and research related to policy proposals, events, or major news that are related to technology and the online information ecosystem. In these cases, our commentary is informed by expert research but may not have been informed by either of the processes described above.